Legends of the DigiDestined
by Alforce Zero
Summary: In the DigiWorld, the harmony is disturbed upon the arrival of the evil Legion of Darkness. Ancient legend tells of five who would be chosen above the others. The first ever team, they are the Legendary DigiDestined. This is their story.
1. The Beginning

**Legal Disclaimer – **I don't own Digimon, and will never be. I do, however, own the Original DigiDestined featured in this story. This standard disclaimer is applicable for all the chapters after this one.

**Author's Note: **Welcome all, to Legends of the DigiDestined. This is my attempt of telling a story about the first group of DigiDestined, the ones that started it all. Yes, the ones before the Adventures and 02 team; the ones which are mentioned briefly in Digimon Adventures. This is a big project of mine, (even bigger than Vengeance) and will cover a large number of plot, origins, characters, various twists and turns, and even more. As you can see, this story is regularly updated, and will continue to do so as long as the time permits it for me to do so. So sit back, relax, grab a popcorn, and enjoy.

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The presence of another world, or an alternate dimension always had been a hot topic for discussion for many. Some were believers, some kept an open mind, and there were those who were ignorant and unbelievers. Little did they know; there indeed was an alternate world other than Earth. A world made out by a combination of computer data and the hopes and dreams of the people of Earth. A world existed since the very first introduction of the computers.

The said world was known as the Digital World.

The Digital World was a home to creatures known as the Digital Monsters, or Digimon in short. Hatched from Digi-eggs, Digimon were peaceful creatures in nature. They were made of data, but once they hatched they became living creatures of flesh and blood. How did these happen, nobody could point it out. These beings were very different from those from Earth in terms of growing up. Instead of aging, the Digimon's way of growing were by a unique way called Digivolution. They began from the Digi-egg level, and would progress into Fresh, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate and Mega levels, with Mega being the strongest possible Digivolutionary form any Digimon could achieve.

Digimon were classified into three types, which were called vaccine, data and virus. Most vaccine Digimon were known to be trustworthy, brave and basically, every fine characteristics which could be listed down. Virus types were those who were prone into mischief and rebellious, while Data types were a blend of both, making them the neutral groups of Digimon.

As time flowed quicker in the Digital World compared to Earth, a few centuries had already passed since the beginning of the world. In some parts of the world, great civilizations were achieved whereas in other parts nature was left alone.

Despite their differences, the Digimon all lived together in harmony for many centuries. However, that was about to change with the arrival of a force that could threaten the peace and balance of the Digital World.

* * *

_-_

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 01 – The Beginning_**

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* * *

The place was void of all living creatures. In fact, it looked like an outer space minus the planets and stars, although specs of lights could be seen twinkling from a far against a dark maroon and blue universal background. This was actually a dimension which had a doorway towards the Digital World.

Shouts could be heard and the sounds of metals hitting each other broke the deathly silence that usually prevailed around this area.

"Transcendent Sword!"

"Crimson Lightning!"

A tall, humanoid figure clad in white armor and crimson cape was seen soaring towards the endless sky. Its height reached twenty meter high, and the ends of its hands were shaped with the head of a metallic blue wolf on the right while the left hand housed the head which bore the design of the metallic head of a silver-orange dinosaur warrior. It was a digimon, who went by the name of Omnimon.

"Do you not realize, Omnimon, that your effort to prevent me from entering the Digital World is futile?"

Omnimon's opponent was a yellow and blue bulb-looking being, also a digimon. It had ten chains dangling out from random places of its bulb body, each chain had a metallic claw on its end. On top of the bulb there was a humanoid man-like being standing on top of it. It was dressed in black, and the cape was crimson in the inside. The upper portion of its face was covered by a helmet which exposed only the eyes, which were glinting maliciously. The torso of this manlike being was connected with the huge bulb by its somewhat deformed lower extremities which shaped like long thick wires.

"Apocalymon, you are a being of darkness! As the guardian appointed to guard the gates between here and the Digital World, I will do everything I can to stop you from crossing the Wall of Fire and bring evil into our world!"

"Your world?" Apocalymon snarled incredulously. "I am a Digimon too. What right do you have to deny me of living a life on the Digital World?"

"A being of darkness such as the likes of you has no place inside the Digital World!"

"I am merely created from all the Digimon's sorrows and energies lost during the digivolving process. And I am determined to share that sorrow with all the Digimon there so they will suffer the same fate as me!" Apocalymon's tone was death-cold now as he let out an evil yet sorrowful laugh.

"All the more reason for me to stop you, Apocalymon," Omnimon retorted.

Not far from the battlezone where Omnimon and Apocalymon were facing each other were two silver towers standing on a twenty meter square red metallic platform. Periodically, thin wall of orange flames shot out from the platform towards the endless sky, which was followed by another wall of bluish white fire from the two silver towers. This was the Wall of Fire, the gateway between the Universe dimension and the Digital World.

"Never that I thought a being of light could be this foolish!" Apocalymon shouted angrily, and raised one of his chain appendages. The claw grew larger and took on a shape of a cannon. "Giga Cannon!" Red laser beam shot out from the cannon, making its way towards Omnimon.

Omnimon quickly reacted by using his right hand, where a missile suddenly came out from the wolf-like hand of his. "Supreme Cannon!" he roared, and white laser beam. The two attacks collided, canceling each other as the forces from both sides were equally strong. Omnimon however was sent hurling backward due to the impact, while Apocalymon barely moved an inch. It was clear now who was the stronger fighter.

"It is evident that I am more superior to you, Omnimon, even though you supposedly are made of two powerful Mega Digimon!" Apocalymon said triumphantly.

Omnimon did not reply. "It is now or never! I have to do whatever it takes to stop him!" he muttered silently. He looked down at his white armor, which had cuts and scorch marks all over. The battle between him and Apocalymon had been going on for the whole day without stop. Approximately eighteen hours to be precise, and Omnimon was beginning to feel tired. So far he had only managed to cut out four out of Apocalymon's ten claw-chains. Despite that Apocalymon did not show any signs of injury or weakness.

"You are weakening, Omnimon. You should have known better to take on an experienced digimon like me."

Not replying, Omnimon raised his sword-hand slowly towards the sky and cried out, "Omnimon Mode Change..."

Pure white aura suddenly erupted from the sword and changed into silver-blue energy ray which swirled around his body, beginning from the tip of the sword and heading towards the feet. As the energy ray spiraled around him, Omnimon felt reenergized and his body began to grow larger and bulkier. All the scorch marks on his white armor disappeared, and his injuries were magically healed. The result was a more magnificent-looking Omnimon, which stood majestically in front of Apocalymon.

"Transcendence Mode!"

Apocalymon could feel the new increasing powers of Omnimon. "What have you done, Omnimon!" he demanded.

Omnimon looked up. "Behold my highest digivolutionary mode, Omnimon in Transcendence Mode! Thanks to the powers of the five sovereigns of the Digital World I am now fully healed and ready for another round of battle with you."

"Transcendence Mode?" Apocalymon asked incredulously. "It is unheard of!"

"So are you," Omnimon replied boldly. His sword shot out from his left hand. "Transcendent Sword!" He loomed towards Apocalymon with unrivalled speed and cut another four of the chains, leaving only two of them still hanging in mid-air.

Apocalymon let out a sickening howl. "You will pay for this Omnimon!" The two remaining claw-chains then took on the shape of the snouts of a metallic dragon and Apocalymon roared, "River of Power!"

Two streams of yellow energy beam shot from the snouts but Omnimon simply blocked the attacks with his sword. Then, he placed a careful aim towards the two remaining claws and pointed his cannon-hand towards them.

"Supreme Cannon!" A single blue energy beam instantly engulfed the claws and destroyed them completely. Omnimon retracted the cannon and readied his sword again.

"Transcendent Sword!" This time, he was aiming to severe Apocalymon's humanly torso and separated it from his bulb body.

However, Apocalymon still had a few last tricks up his sleeve. "Darkness Zone!" Hundreds of energy beams shot from the hollow parts of the bulb where the chain-claws used to be at, showering Omnimon with the needle-shaped beams. It was unexpected; Omnimon had thought that Apocalymon had lost all of his ways of attacking. He was hurled back instantly, but his new armor, made out from the strongest metal in the Digital World and engrafted with holy powers, protected him from the attacks.

"This is not over yet, Omnimon! If I cannot make it into the Digital World, then my legion of darkness will! Come out, my children!"

Omnimon's heart raced wildly as he realized what Apocalymon was about to do.

"No!" he cried out, but it was too late. Apocalymon began to move away from Omnimon and the Wall of Fire. From the ten hollow spots on his bulb ten spirit-like beings crawled out. Each of them had glowing crimson eyes and their features were like the shadows of Apocalymon's humanoid body.

The ten spirits zoomed towards Omnimon and attacked simultaneously, sending out a huge swarm of bats towards him before the holy warrior could even defend himself. Each bat exploded upon contact with his body, and Omnimon only managed to swipe a few of them away.

Suddenly Omnimon realized that the bats had not only injured him, but somehow had drained him of his powers. The spirits attacked him continuously, and Omnimon struggled to break free. In his dire attempt to escape, Omnimon focused his energy towards his cannon-arm and bellowed, "Supreme Cannon!"

The attack did the trick, as the blast coming from the cannon engulfed the three nearest spirits, destroying them completely. The remaining seven spirits immediately ran away from Omnimon, afraid that they would suffer the same fate.

Apocalymon however, remained calm. "You are losing power, Omnimon."

True enough, Omnimon let a loud scream before returning back to his earlier Omnimon's form. He had lost his powers to maintain his Transcendence Mode due to the attack from the spirits.

"I still have enough of me to eradicate you out of this dimension!"

"Such determination! It is a shame, really, for me to destroy you. With you at my side, we could dominate the Digital World together."

"I would sooner die than joining you."

"Then so be it! My children, do it now!"

The spirits obeyed and attacked again by sending another huge swarm of bats towards Omnimon. The holy digimon however was prepared this time around, and blasted the bats away with his cannon while slashing some of them away from him with his sword. He did this repeatedly, but after the bats were cleared he saw that the spirits were zooming towards the Wall of Fire.

"No! I have to stop them!" Omnimon said as he chased the spirits away. They were getting closer and closer towards the gate, and Omnimon realized that there was only one thing he could do to stop them. He aimed his cannon-arm towards the Wall of Fire and...

"Not so fast!" Apocalymon roared and hurled his bulb body towards Omnimon. Omnimon evaded, but the well-aimed Supreme Cannon had missed its target and hit only one of the two silver towers on the platform.

As one of the silver towers collapsed onto the platform, the other one began to malfunction as well. However it still sustained the gateway and the spirits had managed to enter it one by one. Apocalymon shifted his attention towards Omnimon with a look of grim satisfaction.

"I might not make it into the Digital World, but my legions of darkness will spread my sorrow and hatred throughout your precious world until it is engulfed by evil. Neither of the Digimon there will have the privilege of seeing the light. Darkness will prevail!"

Omnimon was stunned. He had tried to stop them, but the spirits had escaped into the Digital World. Lamenting himself, Omnimon felt an intense anger burning through his every veins. To him, it was his fault that the Apocalymon's legions of darkness had escaped.

Apocalymon seemed to be enjoying Omnimon's condition right now.

"Every battle has to end, Omnimon. And today I declare that for the first time ever, darkness triumphs against the power of light!" Apocalymon said loudly. "And now to finish up everything in sight..."

Omnimon's mind instantly reverted back to its former alert state.

"Goodbye, Omnimon," Apocalymon said slowly before crying out, "Total... ANNIHILATION!"


	2. Destined for Greatness

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

_**Chapter 2 - Destined for Greatness**_

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A Dark Age had befallen the Digital World. After an inexplicable wall of flames appeared on the sky of the Digital World, everything had taken a drastic change. It was the last moment when the Digital World could experience peace and harmony. With the emergence of ten mysterious spirit-like beings from the wall of fire, a new epidemic had been brought over, infecting digimon world-wide.

The ten spirit-like beings, the specters of Apocalymon, then took the form of ten demonic digimon as they were made out purely of sorrow and hatred. Before their arrival, demon-type digimon practically didn't even exist in the Digital World. They were thought as the corrupted form of digimon, and assumed the Virus attribute which most befitting their nature, although prior to their arrival Virus digimon were not evil. Together, these demons were known as the Legion of Darkness.

The epidemic which they had brought was in the form of possession, which would take over a digimon's mind and body, making the unfortunate digimon lived its remaining life as a mindless zombie. Any infected digimon would have its eyes glowing bright red. Thus, it was named the Curse of the Crimson Eyes. There was no known cure for the epidemic, and it spread worldwide at an alarmingly quick rate by means of eye-to-eye infection. Any digimon who was in company with an infected digimon could easily succumb into the curse as well, except for certain conditions.

It was said that digimon with the purest of hearts could resist the effect of the curse. Thus, any digimon below Rookie level were safe from being infected. Also, it was nearly impossible to fully affect a Mega digimon except if the Mega itself chose to be infected. The same was true for digimon with a focused mind – while it was possible for the said digimon to be infected, it would be difficult. And mostly, any digimon whom had something to look forward to, any digimon with a contented mind, basically anyone void of sorrow and hatred was safe from the curse as well.

However, all the criteria were only true for the infections by means of eye-to-eye. If one of the Legion of Darkness itself was to come forward and spread the curse, ANY digimon was susceptible to it. And unfortunately, Virus digimon were more vulnerable to the curse if compared to their Vaccine and Data relatives.

Over the years that had passed, the situation grew more and more precarious. Finally the five guardians of the Digital World had no choice but to intervene by trying to fight off the Legion of Darkness themselves. However, even being the most powerful digimon did not guarantee them victory over the Legion. In fact, the guardians, known as the Harmonious Ones, found that their powers were too immense to be used against the forces of evil. When combined, their powers could eliminate the threats of the Curse, but it would mean the destruction of the whole Digital World as well. If that should happen, then even the innocent ones would be killed and the Harmonious Ones could not ever let that happen.

They had only one choice left. They had known that this would happen someday, during the times when all seems lost. Five humans from another world, known as the Real World, a world in parallel with their own world itself, would be summoned to the Digital World to stop the evil. Partnering themselves with select digimon, these group of Digidestined, as they were known in the ancient prophecy uncovered by the Harmonious Ones, had the power to digivolve their partner digimon to their highest digivolutionary levels. Being partnered to these Digidestined, the digimon would precede even their own kinds and with enough training and experience they would rival even the Harmonious Ones themselves.

Decisions were made, although two of the five Harmonious Ones at first opposed the idea of bringing over unknown beings to their world. The Legion of Darkness was a fine example of that. However, the remaining three guardians convinced the two that it was the only way to restore the peace of the Digital World. The prophecy of the First Ones had precisely mentioned that, and the knowledge was passed only to the five of them, as the ones governing the Digital World. Finally the two relented to the majority, and the final part of the prophecy was fulfilled.

A legend was born. The Legends of the Digidestined.

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A decade of chaos had passed on the Digital World, but on the Real World, or Earth, barely a few days had gone by. In the city of Odaiba, situated within the heart of Tokyo, Japan, the sun was shining brightly over the cloudless blue sky. It was summer, the season of holidays for most young people of the country of Japan and generally, all of those who lived on the northern hemisphere of Earth. It was the season of joy for them, except for one particular fifteen year old teenage boy.

Within the vicinity of Highton View Terrace, which was an apartment complex located just outside Odaiba, a tall, thin but slightly muscular teenage boy, with a sling bag strapped on his back, was walking as fast as he could out of the door of an apartment quarter. He was wearing a simple plain blue T-shirt under a red unbuttoned short-sleeved shirt, and a pair of brown cargo pants. Two red wristbands were seen on his hands. The boy wore a pair of brown and black snickers which matched his pants. He was quite good-looking if it wasn't for the fact that his expression seemed to be cold.

"Got to get away," the boy muttered to himself, and entered the elevator which was located down the corridor he was walking on. "I can't stand living here much longer!"

Sweat beads began to form on the boy's forehead and he immediately wiped it away carelessly with the sleeves of his shirt. His cold hazel eyes twinkled as he stepped outside the gate around Highton View Terrace, and he let out a soft sigh of triumph after he got out from the elevator at the ground floor of the apartment. Running a hand on his short spiked reddish brown hair, he took a deep breath and began walking up towards the guardhouse.

Inside the guardhouse, the guard, a burly man in his forties, frowned as he saw somebody approaching. His expression softened after recognizing the boy. He put down the newspaper he was reading, took his hat and stepped outside the guard house, putting the hat on his head to block the sunrays from his face. The boy let out a slight smile as he saw the guard.

"Hiro-san!" the boy greeted the guard, somewhat dully but with acknowledgement.

The guard took in the sling-bag the boy was carrying, and cocked an eyebrow. "Now where do you think you're going, young man?"

"I can't stand it any longer, Hiro-san. I'm running away from here. I'm off to live with my mom!"

The guard nodded understandably. "They aren't treating you right again, are they?"

"You bet they aren't. Just last night, Uncle Tanaka whipped me with a belt just because I didn't hear him calling me. I was already asleep when he called; it was eleven at night for God's sake! I . . . I just can't stand it anymore. He always does that to me, and Aunt Nanako just pretends that nothing had happened. She made me do all the chores at home, while her daughter would just laze around the house making more mess. She's my mom's sister . . . but judging by the way she's been treating me I'd say they are not related at all!"

"Does your mom know about this?"

The boy was hesitant before he replied softly, "No, she doesn't. I don't want her to fight with Aunt Nanako, although I'd be happy if she takes me away from them. But I know that mom is just very busy. She's afraid that she couldn't take care of me."

"Can _you_ take care of yourself?"

"Of course!" the boy said shrilly. "I've been doing all the chores around the house while Aunt Nanako and that good for nothing Shinobu would sit in front of the television the whole day or go out shopping. That's what they do everyday, while I have to juggle between school and homework, and the chores that I must do, or they won't let me eat."

"Poor child." The guard was sympathetic of the fate of the young boy, and held out his arms. The boy was standing there, looking at him blankly, but the guard, Hiroshi Kanezawa, thought he saw tears began to form on the boy's eyes. Soon the boy approached him, and Hiroshi hugged the young boy whom he had known and befriended since the first week the boy arrived at Highton View Terrace. His name was Matsuo Miyazaki, but Hiroshi had known him as Max. Just Max, the boy had told him that during the first day they got acquainted. He heard the boy tried his hardest to stifle a sob.

"Let it out, Max. You've been through a lot," he said softly.

"No," Max said stubbornly. "I'm fifteen already, I can't cry anymore!"

"That's silly. Even guys cry every now and then. It helps."

"Not me, not anymore." Hiroshi shook his head slowly. As he had known him, Max had a streak of stubbornness somewhere inside him.

"So, does your mother know you're coming?"

Max shook his head slowly. "Don't think so. I'm running away from here, and I don't think telling her would be any good. She's at work right now, and I have next to zero chances of contacting her while she's in the office or at the court. Lawyers can be so busy sometimes; especially beginners like her. I don't want to bother her. I'll just show up at her house at central Odaiba and surprise her, and convince her that I can take care of myself."

"You know Max," Hiroshi said thoughtfully. "Your mother's a lawyer. Maybe you can tell her about how your uncle and aunt have been treating you. She could take a legal action . . ."

"No," Max replied flatly. "I don't want to cause any trouble. I should've proven to my mom that I could take care of myself before she decided to send me here."

"Still, it's not an excuse for your relatives to abuse you. Your mother deserves to know about this, even if you don't want any trouble."

Man shook his head stubbornly, and Hiroshi decided to change the topic.

"How will you be going there? Your mother's place, I mean."

"Walk, I guess. It's quite far but I'll manage, I think. Worse comes to worse, I'll hitch-hike!"

The guard's eyes instantly widened upon hearing the response. "Oh no, you don't Max. Hitch-hiking is dangerous; you could end up getting kidnapped!" Hiroshi immediately dug his hands inside the pockets of his trousers and took out a few crumpled green notes, and shoved it onto Max's hands.

"Here. You'll need this."

This time, Max's eyes bulged after seeing the amount of money in his hands. "But, Hiro-san, I can't take this. It's your money, and it's too much!" He pushed Hiroshi's hand back away.

"Don't be ridiculous. Use the money and get a taxi, and have a good lunch somewhere." Hiroshi then took out a pen from one of the two breatspockets of the shirt he was wearing, and tore a piece of paper from the small notebook inside the other. He scribbled a few numbers on it and gave the paper to Max. "Here's my house number, and the number to the phone inside the guard house. If you ever need my help, please call, anytime."

Max nodded. "I'll call you when I reached mom's house, Hiro-san. Thank you."

"Take good care of yourself, boy," Hiroshi replied as he shook the boy's hand. "And be careful."

"I will. I hope we meet again someday," Max said with a small smile, and walked away from the guard house and Highton View Terrace.

-

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As Max Miyazaki walked out from Highton View Terrace, a school bus was bringing over children from Odaiba to a summer camp site somewhere outside the downtown Odaiba, within the hills region of the area. It was a popular site for children during the summer, where they would spend two weeks away from their families and have fun with their peers.

_"Row, row, row your boat. Gently down the stream..."_

Fourteen year old Darien Kanemuchi grunted softly as he slumped on the back seat of the bus, watching all the children singing the famous child song. It was originally an English song, but had already been translated into Japanese while retaining the same medley. Already he felt bored of the whole trip, although they had not reached the camp site yet. He didn't want to go, but his younger sister Kira insisted that it would be fun.

The two of them were the children of the Kanemuchi family, a rich family known all over Odaiba as their father was a famous computer scientist. Their mother was an American, which gave them a mixed heritage of Japanese and Caucasian. That was the reason why Darien and Kira were both blessed with striking good looks.

_"Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream."  
_

Both their parents had called the organizer of the summer camp earlier, and informed that Darien would be helping out the camp-counselors while looking after Kira, to Darien's dismay. He'd be ready to watch over Kira anytime, but spending two weeks at an isolated place away from the civilities of the city just didn't sound appealing to him.

Already he regretted wearing the clothes he was wearing at the moment . . . a red tank-top over a black unbuttoned overshirt, and a pair of matching black jeans. Black absorbed heat, and right now Darien felt as if he was fried from the inside. His dark brown hair was slightly long but well-trimmed, and he'd let the bangs of his hair fall carelessly on his head. He didn't care; the winds were blowing his hair anyway so it's no use trying to style it. Darien hated wearing gel, so he was grateful that he was given natural straight hair. He wore a goggle on top of his head, a fashion he'd picked up somewhere in the magazines.

_"Row, row, row your boat. Gently down the stream..."  
_

His dark brown eyes darted over to where Kira was sitting. Kira had the same eyes as him but the color was a few shades lighter. Her long straight hair was sandy brown, and was tied in two pigtails. She wore a pink hat, and a white shirt under a pink dress. She seemed to be having a good time, joining the crowd which mostly consisted of her age group, singing along the song. Darien used to like the song when he was younger, but now it was annoying him more than ever. Especially after the kids singing the song repeatedly for the thirty-eighth times. Yes, he'd counted, as he had nothing else to do. Darien's attention then shifted to the boy sitting beside Kira.

_"Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream."  
_

That was Jonathan Lee, who was Kira's best friend and classmate in school. Darien often saw the boy; Jonathan, or Jon as he preferred to be called, was regularly at their house. Jon's mom had passed away, and his dad was a good friend of the Kanemuchis. Darien and Kira's mother regarded Jon almost like her own son as well. The boy had straight blonde hair which he kept slightly long, and was parted in the middle. His large blue eyes were hidden behind a rather stylish pair of rectangular glasses.

_"Row, row, row your boat. Gently down the stream..."_

"Would they cut that out already?" Darien grumbled softly, as the children were going to repeat the song for the thirty-ninth times. Looking around, he saw a boy who did not join the others singing. He was sitting at the other end of the backseat, and the seat was occupied only by the two of them. His face was expressionless, and he looked aloof.

Darien studied the boy's features from where he was sitting. The boy had shaggy strawberry-blonde hair under a white hat. He couldn't see the boy's eyes, but saw that the boy was wearing a long-sleeved light green T-shirt over a dark green vest, and a pair of cream-colored, knee-length shorts. Darien decided to talk to the boy to escape the boredom of hearing the same song over and over again.

"Hey," he said as he moved closer towards the boy. The boy jumped slightly, obviously a little surprised of having someone greeting him so suddenly. As he turned to face Darien, the older boy saw that the younger one had a pair of striking violet eyes, which were gazing into his eyes questionably.

"Hi," the boy whispered softly, Darien had to strain his ears to hear the boy amidst the noises the other children made. The boy was definitely shy, Darien thought. But he decided to ask him anyway.

"How come you're not singing with the rest of them?" he asked the boy.

"I don't feel like it. I don't know any of them, and I have trouble making friends."

Darien arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I'm pretty shy, I guess. I don't know how to start introducing myself. Besides I just moved to Odaiba with my parents. We moved around a lot, and I don't get to make friends longer than a year, a year and a half the most. My dad says that we're going to stay at Odaiba for good, but I don't want to hope too much. Our neighbor told us about this camp, and my parents thought it would be a start for me to meet some new friends."

Darien began to feel pity towards the boy. "And I thought I was the only one miserable around here," he mused, loud enough to be heard by the lone boy.

"I've noticed that, you seemed to be bored to death before you came to talk to me," the boy replied, which started Darien slightly.

"Oops. Did I say that out loud?" Darien grinned sheepishly before extending his hand forward. "Well, people say that it's not good to talk to strangers, so I'm gonna introduce myself. I'm Darien."

The boy took his hand and smiled for the first time. "I'm Kanto. Kanto Shigumi."

"Well, Kanto, it's really nice knowing you," Darien said, grinning. "I'm here with my little sister, Kira. She's over there." Darien pointed towards the seat where Kira and Jon were. "The boy beside her is Jon. You can be friends with them, the two of them are nice kids and I'm sure they'll love to get to know you. They seem to have a knack of making friends. Oh yea, both of them are eleven. How old are you?"

"I'm ten," he said thoughtfully. "But I'm going to be eleven next month."

"So you'll be joining Kira and Jon's classes this autumn. That is, if you're going to Odaiba Elementary."

"I think so. I'll ask my parents to enroll me there if they have anywhere else in mind."

Darien grinned. "Odaiba Elementary is the best around. I even went there myself, now I'm in junior high."

Kanto nodded. "Thanks for talking to me, urm.. Darien-san."

"Anytime. I'll be helping out the camp-counselors around the camp site this couple of weeks, so if you have anything to tell me or any problems you'll know where to find me. And just call me Darien, no need for any formalities between friends."

-

-

Max had been walking for more than three hours using the forest route to reach the town. The forest route was a short cut, and Max preferred that rather than taking the main road. He chose to walk as he had all the time he needed, it was still morning and from what he'd gathered his mom won't be back from work until late midnight. Another reason why he'd chosen to walk inside the forests was that it was a very sunny day, and the forest was very thick, shielding him from the brutal sunrays of the summer. Max had always enjoyed the forests; he was able to recall a vague memory of him and his dad spending the time together camping inside the forest when he was around eight years old. His parents were divorced when he was eleven, and his mom was struggling between her careers as a lawyer and raising Max. His father had been a painter, and he couldn't take care of Max as he was constantly traveling. That was why his mom had no choice but to ask her sister to take care of Max until she managed to settle down with her career.

He shook his head. "No need to think of that," he said to himself. The conversation he had with Hiroshi the guard played in his mind over and over again. Finally Max made his decision. "I'll tell mom everything tonight. Surely she would understand, even she and Aunt Nanako didn't get along that well, and she hated Uncle Tanaka."

Max decided to take a break for a while, his leg was sore after walking non-stop for three hours. His shirt was soaking with sweat, and his supply of drinking water was finished. He saw a particularly large tree and put down his bag there. Then he himself sat down and leaned against the tree, enjoying the cool air and the sounds of birds chirping. His eyes drooped slightly, and Max tried to stifle a yawn. He just wanted to take a short break before continuing his journey.

Suddenly a sound of woods cracking and leaves rustling against each other caught Max's attention. He jolted up instantly, and scanned his surroundings uneasily.

"Other people are here as well? It's not common..." he thought out loud. "Hello? Anyone there?" he called out.

The rustlings sounds and a new buzzing sound were heard next, and they seemed to be coming closer and closer to Max.

"Snakes?" Max wondered, and shuddered as he brushed the thought off. "Snakes don't make buzzing sounds. That cancels out kidnappers as well."

Suddenly, an extremely big, larger-than-life praying-mantis leapt up from the thick bushes and landed about twenty meters away from Max. It was green, its eyes glowing red and it had curved, jagged blades attached to its hands. Max let out a yell, shocked to see the praying-mantis monster. His yells attracted the monster's attraction, and it walked up towards him. Max could hear the buzzing sound coming out from the creatures' wings.

"Not good! Not good at all," he said panicly and picked up his bag before running away for his lives to save himself from the creature. The praying-mantis saw this and immediately leapt up to chase him. Its speed was incredible and instantly the creature caught with Max.

"Twin Sickles!" the praying-mantis monster exclaimed, and Max found himself to be attacked by two glowing purple curved energy beams. One of them flew above his head and hit a tree nearby, and to Max's horror the tree was sliced by the energy beam and collapsed on the grounds with a sickening beam. The other beam nearly grazed his legs but Max managed to jump out of the way.

"What have I done to deserve this?!" Max cried out in despair as he continued running. Soon he reached a small stone formation, and noticed that he had managed to outrun the monster. Due to its large size, the praying-mantis monster had a hard time maneuvering its way to attack Max, as the trees there were big enough to block his way. Max was silently thankful and leaned himself against the stone formation, tired of running faster than he had thought he was able to. However, as Max put his hands on the stone's surface, the surface rippled slightly and his hands _entered_ the stone. It was as if putting a hand under the surface of the water.

"A vortex?" Max wondered to himself as he pulled his hand out. All the fingers were still intact. Max had read about vortexes leading to another world before. He got the idea the creature was from another world, and somehow this forest held the gateway connecting the two worlds. Suddenly Max had gotten the urge to walk into the vortex. Crazy, he had thought. He could end up at some place unknown. Although the thought didn't assure him, but at the same time he knew that he really had no other choice. By going elsewhere the creature could easily caught on with him.

A loud cry, which Max presumed came from the praying-mantis monster, didn't leave time for Max to think for long. His heart urged him to step into the vortex, while the logic reasoning of his mind resisted it. Still, standing there was not an option as well, as Max was sure that he won't be able to escape the praying-mantis monster for long. It would be only a matter of time before it gained on him and perhaps tearing him apart and had him as its lunch. The thoughts made Max sick, and so he made up his mind.

"Here goes nothing," Max said and stepped into the vortex. Upon contact with his body the stone surface rippled and a glowing white light emerged from it. The lights seemed to ease any discomforting thought Max had in his minds, somewhat assuring him that he would be safe. Max closed his eyes as his head entered the vortex, and he suddenly felt as if an unknown force was pulling the rest of him into the stone. He let out a soft cry as everything around him became black.

"Aaaaahhhhh!!" he cried and suddenly he felt as if he was falling. A louder cry from him ensued, and he closed his eyes even tighter, holding onto his bag tightly. He was scared out of his wits by the event occurring to him right then. Suddenly he felt himself landed on the surface of a ground with a loud thud.

Max opened his eyes, and realized that he was laying on his back on a hard surface. Looking all around him, he saw that he was in a forest, albeit the notable differences Max thought that he was in the same forest. He got up as quickly as possible, fearing that the praying-mantis monster was still chasing him. However, as he looked around more carefully he realized that he was somewhere else. The trees looked somewhat different, the stone formations were not there, the sound of a flowing river was heard nearby, the air was fresher and not to mention there was a strange colorful Lego-like creature with a distinctive features and shapes of a small dinosaur staring at him with a pair of curious clear gray eyes.

Wait a minute. A strange colorful Lego-like dino creature?

"Hi!" the Lego dino chirped exuberantly towards Max. "Are you lost?"

And it could talk?

Max was flustered. "Uhh... you can talk?"

"Well doesn't everybody?" it replied back with the same cheerful manner that began to annoy Max. "I'm ToyAgumon, a Rookie level digimon. Nice to meet you!"

"Are you always this cheerful?" Max inquired curiously, feeling uneasy as the creature named ToyAgumon walked close to him, studying his features. "The name's Max, by the way," he added in haste, trying to sound polite.

"What are you?" ToyAgumon asked, his formerly happy tone dropped slightly. "You're not a digimon, aren't you?"

"A digimon? What is that?" Max asked back.

"You know, it's not nice to answer a question with a question," ToyAgumon said calmly. "A digimon is short for digital monster. You didn't know that, meaning that you're from another world. How did you get here?"

"Will you stop asking so many questions? I'm trying to figure out where am I!" Max snapped irritably.

ToyAgumon looked crestfallen, if that was even possible as he was made of blocks of Lego. "I'm just curious. You don't have to snap at me. I'll take it that you don't want me around. I'll leave then." ToyAgumon turned around to leave.

Max suddenly felt guilty. "Hey... wait. Don't go."

ToyAgumon didn't stop, but a smirk formed on his face. Max however didn't see that.

"Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you. I've a bad day. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Okay," ToyAgumon said and turned around. "I mean, its okay. I guess I should say I'm sorry as well for bothering you too much. We don't get visitors around Database Island these days, and you look very different from any other digimon."

Max thought for a while. "Well, I'm from Earth and I'm a human. And did you say Database Island just now? I assume that is where we are right now, right?"

ToyAgumon chuckled lightly. "Database Island is only a small portion of the Digital World. The Digital World is a world where digimon live." He approached Max closer. "So what brings you here, er.. if you don't mind me asking you?"

"It's okay. I was chased by a large praying-mantis like creature when I was resting back on .. err... Earth. It was green mostly, with jagged blades attached on its hands. And I heard that it cried out 'Twin Sickles' when it attacked me." Max's senses was sharp, so that's why he was able to pick on so much details of the monster attacking him a while ago.

"Seems to me that you were chased by a Snimon," ToyAgumon said. "Does this Snimon have glowing red eyes?"

"Yeah, yeah I did see its eyes glowing red," Max replied, beginning to recall more details of his chaser.

"Then you're in danger, Max," ToyAgumon said worriedly. "C'mon, I'll take you to somewhere safe." He reached out for Max's hand, and pulled Max into the forest.

"Danger? What danger? What are you talking about?" Max asked, feeling slightly uneasy. "Why are you looking so scared of all the sudden?"

"Digimon with glowing red eyes are known to cause trouble all over the Digital World. Database Island is no exception," ToyAgumon said darkly. "You're lucky to be alive, Max."

"And I think your luck is running out!" A voice said loudly from the top of them. Glancing upwards, Max and ToyAgumon saw, to their horror, a Snimon perched on a sturdy tree branch. Its eyes were glaring towards the both of them.

"That's the monster that was chasing me just now!" Max said disbelievingly. "How did it get here?"

"You stepped into a portal leading to this world, boy! And directly into my trap!" Snimon said vehemently, and jumped down from the branch.

"Run Max!! I'll distract him!" ToyAgumon cried and shoved Max away. He then turned towards Snimon and yelled out, "Toy Flame!!"

While running, Max glanced behind and saw that a toy miniature of a flame materialized from ToyAgumon's mouth. The toy flame then was launched towards Snimon, but Snimon used his blades to smash the toy flame easily.

"Is that the best you can do, Rookie? You should know better than to face a Champion digimon like me!" Snimon boomed, and crossed the blades in front of him before opening his arms wide again, shouting, "Twin Sickles!!"

Max paused and stared in horror as Snimon's attacks both hit ToyAgumon directly. ToyAgumon fell onto the grounds, and he was severely hurt from the strong attacks of Snimon.

"I can't run, the praying-mantis will kill ToyAgumon. I have to distract him," Max decided, and ran towards Snimon. "Hey! Why don't you pick somebody your own size!"

"Gladly," Snimon replied, and loomed towards Max, both blades ready to strike.

Max sprinted up as quickly as possible and ran as fast as his sore legs could manage. He came up into a small river, which he had heard a while ago. Assuming that the river was deep Max did the only thing he thought possible and jumped into the river. Snimon halted in mid-air after seeing Max's action, and cried out in frustration. He slashed two nearby trees and tossed it into the river, and launched his attacks towards the river trying to get Max up on the surface.

Meanwhile Max reached the bottom of the river, and decided that it was safe for him to stay there. He could hold his breath for maximum of two minutes, after that he would drown if he didn't get up onto the surface. He closed his eyes, failing to notice a blue glow from his trousers.

ToyAgumon limped his way towards the river and saw that Snimon was waiting for Max to emerge from the river. Knowing that Max would not last long in the river, ToyAgumon called out for Snimon from the place where he was hidden. His calls managed to catch Snimon's attention and the insect digimon began to look around curiously, trying to find where ToyAgumon was.

After two minutes, Max could not stand being in the water any longer and swam up towards the surface as quickly as possible. He let out a relieved sigh and inhaled a large amount of air quickly. Then, he saw that Snimon was flying slowly towards the forest, and something colorful in the bushes caught his attention. ToyAgumon motioned for him to be silent, and Max nodded knowingly.

However Snimon was not easily fooled and ToyAgumon's colorful appearances gave him away quickly.

"Caught in the act, ToyAgumon!" he said loudly. "Twin Sickles!!"

"No!! ToyAgumon!!" Max yelled, and ToyAgumon barely managed to look around to see Snimon was hovering high above him. The two curved energy beams were both launched towards him and ToyAgumon had barely enough time to dodge.

Suddenly, Max felt something shaking from his left pocket, and saw that something was glowing from his pocket. He quickly took out the thing from his pocket, and studied it quickly. It looked like a device, like the Tamagotchi cyberpet device he'd seen on the stores. However this device looked real, metallic, and was glowing with brilliant blue lights. A beam of blue light shot out from the device straight towards ToyAgumon and enveloped the little digimon inside a ball of blue lights. The two energy beam attacks from Snimon were absorbed by the blue ball of lights.

**"ToyAgumon Digivolve to...."**

Max watched in amazement as the blue lights were absorbed by ToyAgumon, and he himself was glowing with blue aura. ToyAgumon began to grow larger and more massive. His colorful cubical features were replaced by blue reptilian skin, and three horns began to sprout out from his head and snout. His eyes became dark red in color, while his former childish expression was replaced by a fierce draconic one, complete with a row of sharp teeth to add to the fear. Large blue tail grew out from his back, and ToyAgumon was no longer a little toy dino. He had transformed into a fearsome, bulky blue-and-white dragon digimon. The newly formed digimon let out a loud roar and landed on the ground.

**"VEEDRAMON!!"**

"Veedramon?" Max said disbelievingly. He was shocked, amazed, and glad at the same time upon seeing the changes underwent by ToyAgumon. "Awesome!"

"What happened? How did you digivolve so suddenly?" Snimon demanded towards Veedramon. There was a slight shook in his voice.

Veedramon looked at Max with a warm expression that could wipe away anyone's fear towards him. "I have Max to thank for. No longer am I the Rookie ToyAgumon, I've digivolved into the Champion Veedramon, a Vaccine type phantom dragon digimon. My V-Arrow Breath, V-Nova Blast and Hammer Punch attacks will destroy anything that is trying to harm Max or myself."

"This is way too incredible," Max muttered and looked at the device he was holding. It had subsided from glowing with the strange blue lights and was sitting still on Max's hand. Max suddenly shivered as he was still in the river, his clothes were drenched wet.

"So what if you have digivolved? I've been a Champion longer than you. I'll still beat you!" Snimon retorted. "Take this! Twin Sickles!!"

"Now to finish this as quickly as possible," Veedramon said with a slight grin. "V-Nova Blast!!"

The V-shaped mark on his chest glowed with white-blue lights and a glowing sphere of concentrated energy beam came forth from it. Veedramon then used his inner energy to push the sphere towards Snimon's attacks. The two attacks exploded upon contact with each other. Veedramon didn't waste anymore time and jumped into the air, and aimed his snout towards Snimon.

"V-Arrow Breath!!" he cried, and a V-shaped arrow-like energy beam was blasted away from his mouth towards the unknowing Snimon. The insect digimon wasn't prepared to receive such a powerful attack, and was struck directly on the chest. Snimon gasped slightly as his body glowed bright white, and without warning he exploded!

"Aaaahhh!" Max yelled, closing his eyes with both hands on reflex. He was afraid that everything around them would combust as well with Snimon. However when nothing happened, the boy dared himself to open his eyes. He saw red particles floating all over the place. "What just happened?"

Veedramon looked at the drenched boy warily. "I've deleted Snimon," he said simply.

"Delete? As in . . . exterminate? Kill?" Max replied, as what Veedramon had just did dawned to him. His expression turned into a look of horror, and he grimaced towards the dragon digimon.

"Please don't be afraid of me," Veedramon pleaded upon seeing the boy's reaction. "It had to be done. There's no other way; he'd have killed the both of us. I have to delete him to protect myself and you. I hope you can understand."

Max didn't reply, as he was processing over what Veedramon had just said and at the same time struggling to maintain balance while still inside the river.

"Besides, if he's not really an evil digimon, he'd be reconfigured back into a Digi-Egg," Veedramon added in hopes of winning Max's trust back.

"What do you mean by reconfigured back?" Max asked instantly, no longer scowling. Veedramon could see that Max was no longer afraid of him.

"It means that Snimon, if he's good, will be reborn."

And finally, Max nodded in understanding. "Cool . . . " he whispered, and shuddered. The coldness of the river had caught on to him.

"Are you okay?" Veedramon asked.

"Aside from extremely wet, I guess I'm fine."

"Need a help?"

"Sure."

Veedramon lunged forward, extending his right claw towards Max. Max quickly grabbed Veedramon's claw, but before the dragon managed to pull him out from the river, his body glowed blue and he turned back into ToyAgumon. Not strong enough to support Max's weight, instead of pulling him up ToyAgumon was pulled down into the river alongside the already drenched Max. The two struggled for a while to lift themselves up to the surface again.

"Aren't you supposed to help me up?" Max asked, and a trace of smile began to form on his mouth.

"I don't know. I was Veedramon, and then I'm back as ToyAgumon again," ToyAgumon replied, confused.

"Well we both better get out from here before any of us catch flu or something."

"Got it."

They got out from the river after a few minutes by swimming towards the shallow part of the river. Max was clicking his tongue, seeing that he was all wet. Luckily his bag didn't end up being in the river as well.

"It had to be somewhere in the bushes," Max said as he looked for his sling bag.

"I'll help you look," ToyAgumon offered. The two of them took a few minutes before Max found the bag.

"I found it!" he shouted excitedly. Opening his bag, he took out a medium-sized orange plain towel. "Here, ToyAgumon. Dry yourself with this."

ToyAgumon took the towel with a confused expression on his face. "Nah, you take it. We digimon have our own ways to dry off." He handed the towel back to Max.

"Suit yourself," Max replied, and took off the wet red shirt and the blue T-shirt and tossed them onto the ground. ToyAgumon looked at him intently, his mouth slightly opened.

"Max, what's that straight red mark across your chest?"

Max's expression darkened as he took the towel to dry off his body. "My uncle whipped me with his belt yesterday," he said sadly, and examined the whip mark on his chest. It expanded from his lower left chest portion up until the upper right part. "He always did that, especially when he was drunk." Max turned around and ToyAgumon gasped as he saw the same mark imprinted on Max's bare back.

"Your uncle must be a bad man, Max," ToyAgumon said softly. "I'm so sorry that you have to go through all that."

Max was stunned after hearing ToyAgumon's comments. He had never heard a comment so sincere coming out from anyone. He had expected Hiroshi to say things like that, but he never told the kind old guard about how badly he was whipped. Hiroshi was suspicious, but Max usually dismissed it, saying that it wasn't anything serious.

"Thanks," Max whispered, his hazel eyes twinkling. "No one's ever said that to me before."

"No one deserved to go through all that. He's your family, he should be protecting you. Instead, he beat you up. Why if I ever got the chance I'll burn him with my toy flame," ToyAgumon said darkly.

"You don't have to do that," Max said, trying miserably to stifle a sob. His eyes however weren't cooperative and a single drop of tear trickled down his cheek. He kneeled in front of ToyAgumon and hugged the little toy, to the surprise of ToyAgumon. However he calmed down as he felt a few drops of water trickling down his drying cubical back. After a minute, Max released ToyAgumon from his grasp.

"Are you alright, Max?" ToyAgumon said carefully.

Max wiped his eyes quickly with the towel. "I'm sorry you have to see this. I've promised myself earlier this day that I won't cry anymore. Yet, I broke that promise just now. I usually don't cry in front of other people, not even in front of my uncle, aunt or Shinobu. But I feel as if I have known you for so long, although we've just met. The feeling suddenly appear inside my heart. I don't know why, but..."

"I know why," ToyAgumon interrupted suddenly in a soft whisper. He looked like he was in disbelief, but at the same time confident.

"You do?"

"Yes. Because you are my partner. You are a Digidestined, and I'm your digimon partner. We share an unbreakable bond now. You and that device had made me digivolve to Veedramon during the our fight with Snimon. I myself have this longing feeling deep in my heart, a longing feeling to be with someone. To meet someone, but I don't know who. The feeling was there until I met you, Max. Although that time, I wasn't so sure myself. But now I'm certain, you are my Digidestined partner, Max."

"I don't understand some part of it, ToyAgumon, but I believe you," Max replied as he got up. "Now to get changed." Max continued changing, and after a few minutes he was already dressed in a clean dry white T-shirt and a pair of light blue jeans. He didn't bother to comb his hair as they were quite short and did not need any particular styling.

"My waistbands, socks and snickers are still wet," he complained.

"Not to worry. Toy Flame!!" ToyAgumon said loudly, and the large miniature of a toy flame materialized in front of him. It let out a warm air from it. "Put your wet clothes around the toy flame, Max. They'll dry off in about a few minutes."

"Hey, neat! You're very useful, ToyAgumon. I could get used to having you around."

"That's what partners are for." Both of them laughed, especially Max. It had been too long before he had a good laugh.

"You know, maybe being stuck around in this world might not be a bad idea after all," he said thoughtfully.

"Are you worried that you might not be able to get back home?" ToyAgumon inquired.

"I don't know," Max said. "Really."

"We could always try the place where I first found you."

They went over to the place, but couldn't find the doorway which had lead Max into the Digital World.

"Well," ToyAgumon said with a voice of feigned disappointment. "I guess this means only one thing."

"What?"

"Welcome to Database Island, Max."

Max nodded slightly. "So where do you guess we should go, ToyAgumon?"

ToyAgumon thought for a while. "It's best if we head towards the Primary Village."

"Oo--kay," Max agreed. "Care to tell me about this Primary Village while we're heading there?"

"Why certainly!" ToyAgumon began telling Max about the history of the Digital World and everything he needed to know about digimon.

The first partnership of a human and a digimon was formed. Although they didn't have a really good start, but in the end everything turned out alright. Little did they know that the two of them were destined for greatness, and had a lot of adventures awaiting for them.

-

* * *

**  
Author's Note:  
**

Well, how do you like the chapter? It introduces us to the first Digidestined ever, and the first digimon being partnered to a human from another world. I hope I did an okay job in describing each of the five main characters, although this chapter is focused more on Max. Next chapter will introduce us to the other four Digidestined, although they were mentioned in this chapter.

**Psychorabbit -** Thanks for being the first to review this fic. This is a fic about the first five (six?) Digidestined, and is meant to be the prequel for Digimon Adventures and Digimon 02, and also Digimon : Vengeance series. I hope you will come back and review again soon, your comments are always meaningful and I appreciate every reviews you have written for me.

This chapter is recently revised **November 24, 2004**.

**Note about ToyAgumon / Veedramon**

**  
**Someone will bound to say that ToyAgumon can't digivolve into Veedramon. I know that, the only 'Agumon' that can digivolve into Veedramon is a SnowAgumon, but I wanted to make Max's partner unique and thus, I choose to include ToyAgumon.

Veedramon's attacks are actually V-Breath Arrow and Hammer Punch, according to Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia. In the Digimon World 2 games Veedramon has V-Nova Blast attack instead of V-Breath Arrow, so I've decided to use both attacks. I think the two attacks are supposedly to be the same, with only different names, but in this fic he'll have both attacks. And I have modified V-Breath Arrow into V-Arrow Breath.


	3. Summer Disaster

**Chapter Three - Summer Disaster**

Upon arriving at the summer camp site, all the children sauntered around happily while the camp councellors began to check up every cabins to ensure the accomodations are in good conditions. A few student chaperon volunteers, including Darien, were assigned to watch over the younger kids as they went on exploring the site. Naturally, Darien's first instinct was to go look for his younger sister who had went off with her best friend for a look-around but the sight of one familiar lone-wolf stopped him for a while. Kanto Shigumi, the young ten-year-old boy he had befriended in the bus, was sitting alone on a wooden bench and he looked preoccupied with something.

"Hey Kanto," Darien called over to the strawberry-blonde boy. "What are you doing here all alone? Shouldn't you go with the other kids exploring and stuff?"

Kanto, who was holding an artbook and a pencil on his hands, looked up to see the one who had called to him. Darien noticed that the boy now had a small binocular hung around his neck. His expression brightened up instantly upon seeing the older boy.

"Hello," he said with a smile as Darien came up to him and sat at the bench. "I was sketching before you came here." Kanto handed Darien his artbook, which was rather thick. The dark-haired teen flipped over the few first pages of the notebook, and was amazed to see the sketches. There were drawings of different types of birds and domestic animals such as cats and dogs, all of them were skillfully sketched.

"Wow, Kanto. These are really beautiful. Did you draw these drawings yourself?"

"Thank you. Yeah, I draw them myself as a hobby. I think I wanna be an artist or anything that has to do with drawing when I grow up."

"Where did you learn to draw like this? I mean, I seriously have a major problem with drawings. I can't draw well."

"Well, my dad works as an architect and my mum teaches art."

"So it runs in the family. That's cool. Think you can teach me anytime during these two weeks?"

"I'd be happy to."

Darien grinned. "Hey listen, I want to go and look for my sister and her friend. They seem to have escaped my eye just now. Think you wanna tag along? We can go look for them together, and I can introduce them to you."

Kanto's face lit up instantly. "Yeah, sure. I'd like that." He quickly stashed his notebook and pencil inside a small backpack he was carrying around, and jumped down from the stool. They began looking for Kira and Jon by following a small walkway inside the forest. Lots of the kids were there as well, playing, running and were having a good time. However there was no sight of Kira or Jon, so both boys continued walking. They walked into the deeper part of the forest and the sounds and cheers of other children began to fade.

After a while they came across a large, bare clearing. From the forests, Darien could see a small hill with a fleet of stairs leading to a small shrine. What caught his attention was the two figures who were climbing the stairs, and he walked faster towards them with Kanto following him silently from behind.

"Hold it right there you two! Just where did you think you're going?" he called over to the two kids.

One of them, a girl dressed in pink dress which reached her knees over a white blouse and a matching pink hat turned over to face him.

"Darien, glad you make it here as well!" Kira said cheerfully and quickly ran down the stairs towards Darien and Kanto.

The boy who was accompanying her waved towards Darien and Kanto. He was Jonathan Lee, Kira's best friend and he preferred to be referred as Jon instead of his longer first name. Jon was wearing a dark grey long sleeved shirt which was tucked in a knee-length khaki shorts. Around his neck was an orange bandanna, and he didn't wear his glasses anymore. His blond hair was neatly parted in the middle, with the bangs reaching the top of his darker eyebrow. His azure eyes were sparkling against the sunlight, and his glasses were neatly tucked inside the pocket of his shirt.

"We heard that there's an ancient shrine up the hill, and we wanna go and look for it," he called over to Darien and began to follow Kira.

"Well can't the two of you just wait for me the next time you two want to set off to an adventure of yours?" Darien asked in a tone of mock-annoyance, and was greeted with a surprise hug by his little sister.

"You have to come and... oh..." Kira's voice trailed off when he saw Kanto. "Hello," she greeted politely with a warm smile and released Darien from her hug, her cheeks flushed slightly. "Sorry, I didn't see you earlier."

"Hi," Kanto greeted her back, rather shyly. "I'm Kanto."

"We've met in the bus, while you guys were busy singing that annoying song for the thirty-ninth number of times," Darien added with a smirk.

"I'm Kira," Kira replied, and gestured towards Jon who was already coming towards her. "And that's Jon."

Jon extended his right hand forward instantly upon seeing Kanto. "My real name's Jonathan but just call me Jon."

"Got it," Kanto said with a smile and took Jon's hand.

"Don't call him Jonny, only his dad can call him that," Kira added in a whisper and laughed heartily, while Jon just shook his head.

"Don't mind her," he whispered to Kanto. "So, do you wanna join us going to the shrine upstairs? We heard that it's rather ancient."

"Why don't you three go along and I'll catch up with you guys?" Darien suggested, and pushed Kanto lightly towards Kira and Jon.

"Race you guys to the top!" Kira said gleefully and quickly ran up.

"Hey no fair!" Jon called out to her. "C'mon Kanto, don't let her beat us."

"Yeah!" Kanto said cheerfully and followed Jon to chase after Kira.

"You three be careful!" Darien shouted, but no one seemed to heard him as they were busy racing with each other. He began walking up the stairs himself, but took his own time to admire the surroundings. It was quite a change to be there after spending a long time in a busy city such as Odaiba, and Darien began to think that he might enjoy the two-weeks camp after all. The scenery there was breathtaking, and the air was fresher compared to the city, which in his opinion was rather polluted. However the sun was blazing mercilessly, and Darien had to take off his black long-sleeved shirt and tied it around his waist, leaving his red tank-top on.

After a few minutes of climbing, he finally reached the top of the hill. The hill's top was actually another small clearing with a shrine built at the center. Kira, Jon and Kanto were all standing in front of the shrine silently. Wondering what was wrong Darien approached the three younger kids, and immediately saw the causes of their silent stares.

Inside the shrine there were two unconscious figures lying on the wooden floors. One of them looked like a dark grey bear cub wearing a blue cap and had blue belts on its paws. The other one was clad in a blue fencing outfit, its wooden stick was sprawled near his leg. The sight of a moderately thick blue tail from its behind made it looked reptilic.

"What do you think those two are?" Jon asked in awe. "I've never seen anything like those two."

"I don't have a clue, but it looks like they're hurt," Kanto answered, his violet eyes completely transfixed at the two figures.

"Let's take a look," Kira said, but a sudden strong grasp on her right shoulder caused her to yelp in surprise. She calmed down instantly when she saw that it was only her older brother.

"What's going on here?"

"We don't know. The moment the both of us reached the shrine, they are already there," Kira replied. "Do you know what they are, Darien?"

Darien gazed towards the two figures and shrugged. "One of them looked like a bear cub, but the other... I have no idea."

"They couldn't be aliens, could they?" Kanto asked fearfully.

"But they look harmless, maybe we ought to see what's wrong with them," Jon reasoned.

"Looks can be deceiving," Darien said seriously. "And remember that curiosity kills the cat."

"But can't we just take a closer look?" Jon asked again, looking at Darien's eyes. "Maybe they're dying, or hurt."

Darien sighed slightly. "Allright, but I'm going in to check them out. The three of you stay here."

Both Kira and Kanto nodded slowly, but Jon didn't reply as his gazes were still transfixed onto the two curious creatures. His expression became slightly pale when he saw the tail of the creature in fencing outfit jerked slightly. As the interior of the shrine was slightly dark both Jon and Darien couldn't make out the creature's face. However driven by curiosity Jon quickly moved in to take a closer look.

"Jon..." Darien began to say but Jon was already climbing the small stairs leading to the entrance. He then had no other choice but to go after the blonde as he was afraid that the boy would get hurt. Kanto and Kira stood close to each other silently, watching the whole event. Darien easily caught up with the younger boy, but by then both of them were at the entrance to the shrine, and the two unconscious creatures were less than ten meters away from them. The reptilic creature's body began to move slightly, and they heard a slight groan coming out from it's mask, but as the groans were soft they couldn't really decipher what it was saying.

"Hello?" Jon called out, but Darien immediately closed his mouth with his palm. He should have known that Jon was too curious, the boy was too smart to be scared. He would have wanted to know what was going on.

The reptilic creature's head shot up instantly, and it's body shuddered slightly as it struggled to look to whoever who was calling it. From the scarce amount of light coming from the holes of the old shrine they could made out two yellow glows inside the creature's masked hollow face.

"Where.... where are we?" it wondered, and both Darien and Jon were amazed to hear that the creature had a voice of a young boy, possibly even younger than Jon. The creature looked over to his unconscious companion, and was shocked to see that it hadn't awaken yet. "Bearmon, please wake up! Bearmon!" he whispered urgently.

"Hey... you okay there?" Darien gathered his courage and called out to the talking creature, amazed that he sounded like humans.

The reptilic being struggled to stand up and reached for his wooden gauntlet before looking straight towards Darien and Jon.

"Is it... safe to come out?" he asked fearfully. "Are they... gone?"

Both boys were perplexed to hear the questions coming out from the creature.

"I think so, why?" Jon replied back, feeling a slight pity after hearing the fear in the creature's voice. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you."

"What are you?" Darien asked, feeling curious all of a sudden.

"My name is Kotemon," the creature known as 'Kotemon' replied back. "I'm a digimon."

"Are you from around here?" Jon asked. "Because you don't look like you are."

"Where am I?" Kotemon asked back worriedly, and looked at his friend, Bearmon again. "Why is Bearmon still fainted?"

"Don't be scared. You are now at the Summer Lake, in Japan."

Kotemon looked at Jon strangely. "What's a Japan?"

"Er.. it's an eastern country on Earth?"

"Earth? However did we get here?" Kotemon asked shrilly, clearly shocked after hearing Jon's answer. "One moment that horrid Tortomon and Kuwagamon were chasing us, and the next moment we were here on a strange planet."

"Hey, is everything okay over there? To whom are you talking to, guys?" Kira's voice called out to the both of them.

"Well, Kotemon, looks like we have a lot to talk about. You look hurt. Come, I'll help you walk. There are two more people out there at the clearing, and I'm sure they want to meet you too," Jon offered, and reached out his hand.

Kotemon looked at Jon, a little bit unsure of whether to trust the boy or not. "What about Bearmon?" he asked before taking Jon's hand.

Darien entered the shrine carefully and glanced towards Jon and Kotemon. "I'll carry him out." Carefully, he lifted the unconscious Bearmon gently from the floor and was surprised of the digimon's rather heavy weight. Cradling him with both arms Darien treaded his way back to the other three kids carefully, trying to maintain his balance. Then, Kotemon related their tales to the three kids and explained about the event when they were chased.

"Bearmon and I were running for our lives because Kuwagamon and Tortomon are just too strong. But then we came over to a cliff, and was trapped as both of us couldn't fly away. Tortomon cornered us up and stomped the grounds to make us fall. Kuwagamon flew over us, trying to push us over the cliff. As the ground rumbled we fell into the deep abyss below, and that's all I remember. The next thing I knew we were inside that shrine."

"Clearly you must have fallen into a vortex connecting your world with ours," Jon said.

"So how are we going to go back to the Digital World?" Kotemon asked despairingly.

"Don't worry," Kira said soothingly. "Somehow we'll find a way."

Kotemon nodded sadly and slumped onto the grounds. A little moment later, Bearmon woke up and was frantic of having four strangers surrounding him and Kotemon. Kotemon had to restrain his friend and calmed the bear cub down. Seeing that Bearmon was unable to stop crying, Kotemon looked around helplessly towards his new human friends.

"Bearmon is rather young, he's easily freaked out," he explained hastily.

Darien instantly felt pity towards the bear cub and dug into the pockets of his trousers. Taking out two bars of chocolates, he offered them to the crying Bearmon and the bewildered Kotemon. Bearmon looked at Darien curiously and took one bar, and Darien could hear a muffled sound of a polite 'thank-you' coming out from him. Kotemon followed suit, and observed his friend eating the chocolate bar.

"It's really good," Bearmon said, and wiped his tears away while struggling to restrain his sobs. "Try it, Kotemon."

Kotemon nodded and took out his helmet. Instantly, a friendly violet dinosaur head with a pair of yellow eyes greeted them. Both digimons ate their chocolates silently while the four children observed them with awe. One talking little dinosaur and one talking bear cub were indeed a strange thing to see, especially when they seemed to be enjoying eating the chocolates. After eating, Bearmon was calm enough to introduce himself, and he thanked Darien properly, apologizing to all of them for his earlier behavior.

Suddenly, a loud buzzing noise was heard from the sky. All of them looked up, and Kotemon and Bearmon gasped loudly upon seeing a gigantic red stag bettle looming down towards them. The children's faces paled at the sight of the digimon that Kotemon and Bearmon were terrified at.

"It's Kuwagamon!" Kotemon screamed. "Run!"

Immediately, the six of them split up and ran towards opposite directions. Darien Kira and Kanto sprinted towards the forest as they were nearer, while Jon, Kotemon and Bearmon quickly ran towards the shrine to seek refuge. The Kuwagamon were after the digimons, and both Kotemon and Bearmon realized that Jon was in grave danger.

"Thunder Gauntlet!!" Kotemon hurled his gauntlet stick, which suddenly erupted with thunderbolts towards Kuwagamon.

"Bear Roll!!" Bearmon jumped up high and rolled in mid-air towards Kuwagamon.

Kuwagamon was hit by both attacks, but easily it swatted both digimons away. However, it then changed course and targetted Darien, Kira and Kanto, who were heading towards the forest behind the clearing. Knowing that they were defenseless, both Kotemon and Bearmon rushed over to aid their friends while Jon quickly rushed towards the shrine upon Kotemon's order.

Looming fast towards the three children, Kuwagamon grabbed Kira and Kanto with its claws after knocking away Darien with its legs. Kotemon and Bearmon tried in vain to rescue their friends but Kuwagamon flew up high in the air, making it imposibble for either digimons to attack it. Thunder rumbled in the sky, and all of them saw a huge yellow portal opened up in the middle of the sky, and the Kuwagamon flew into it. The screams of Kira and Kanto were the last thing they heard before the portal closed.

"No! Kira!! Kanto!!" Darien screamed helplessly. "No!! Bring them back!!"

Jon shuddered violently after seeing the whole event. His best friend, and a new friend he had made earlier were taken into another world. Impossible, but Jon knew better especially after hearing Kotemon's story.

Kotemon and Bearmon approached Darien slowly, while the teen was sobbing for the loss of his sister and a new friend. He fell onto his knees and stomped his fists angrily onto the grounds, calling out Kira and Kanto's names hysterically.

"Bring them back..." he whispered, and buried his face into his palms, sobbing helplessly. "Kira... Kanto..."

Bearmon landed a paw slowly onto Darien's shoulder, trying to calm the teen down although he himself was in utter shock. Kotemon signalled Jon to come over as they didn't know what else to do.

"That was the digimon who was aftering us," Bearmon said slowly. "I'm sorry."

Darien raised his head, and Bearmon saw that his eyes were red and tears were flowing down his cheek. "It's... not your fault."

"In a way, we are responsible. The Kuwagamon was after us, not your sister and friend."

"There must be a way to go back to our world and rescue them," Kotemon said.

Suddenly, Darien felt something light knocked his head from above, and two similar objects fell in front of him. The three devices looked exactly the same, they were octagonal in shape but their width was longer than the height. Light emerald-green in color, each device had a small screen in the middle of it.

"What are these?" Darien asked and took the devices into his hand.

Jon was running towards Darien, and panted heavily after he reached the older boy.

"Darien, there was this thing fell from the sky all of the sudden. Curious isn't it? If I'm correct it might have came from the portal that giant bug entered," he said quickly and held out the same device that Darien had gotten.

"What are these?" Darien asked the digimons urgently. "How can we use them to open a gateway into your world? Please, you must know the answer. I have to save my sister and Kanto."

Kotemon and Bearmon looked at each other. "We... we're sorry, but we've never seen such objects before, Darien," Bearmon replied slowly, which caused Darien to scream in frustration and anger. Both digimons and Jon backed up fearfully.

As if responding to Darien's outburst, one of the three devices in Darien's palm suddenly shook itself violently and released a faint aura of red lights. Jon felt the same thing as his device sent out waves of faint green lights. The green and red lights coalesced with each other and suddenly the same sounds of thunder erupted from the sky. Clouds appeared suddenly, and winds blew from out of nowhere.

"What's happening?" Darien asked, as the red and green lights caused the space in front of them to warp slightly. Suddenly with a flash of brilliant multicolored lights a similar gateway opened in front of them. Darien instantly got up and looked over to Jon.

"I'm going in," he said determinedly.

"Then count me in!" came Jon's reply. The two digimons nodded vigorously in agreement, and Darien walked into the gate. His body was instantly enveloped by the rainbow of lights and he disappeared. Bearmon quickly followed Darien, and he too vanished from sight. Kotemon was next, but just as he was about to enter, he saw Jon ran towards the forest quickly. He picked up a hat which belonged to Kanto, and quickly yelled over for Kotemon to enter the gate, as he saw the gate began to shrink in size. The gate became smaller and Kotemon's cry was heard, beckoning for Jon to hurry.

"I'm gonna make it," Jon said to himself as he picked up speed, praying that he would be able to make it. He jumped in haste and flew inside the gate before it sealed itself again.

=====================================

It was as if something was pulling them, that was what Darien and Bearmon felt during their very short journey through the gateway. Another gateway opened up before them, and before they could even do anything a strong force erupted from the opening, pulling them towards it. Darien closed his eyes and uttered an involuntary scream before he catapulted on a hard dusty surface. Before he could get up, he felt the intense weight of Bearmon fell onto his back.

"Get... off," Darien managed to gasp. "You're too... heavy!"

"Oh! Sorry," Bearmon quickly rolled onto the grounds to allow Darien to get up.

As he got up, Darien realized that both Jon and Kotemon were not with them. Quickly and frantically, he looked around the two of them.

"Where could they be? Did the gateway close before they could enter?"

Bearmon didn't know for sure, but he decided to say something to calm Darien down. The boy had too much problems right then, and he wanted to help out in anyway he could.

"They must have been pulled into a different exit, but I'm sure they are in this island as well. Please don't be worried, Kotemon would do anything in his power to protect your friend."

Darien glared at Bearmon. "Don't worry?! There's a freak monster bug that took my sister and my friend away, and now another of my friend isn't around here as well, and you're telling me not to worry?! I'm supposed to be the one who's protecting them, but I messed up and look what happened!"

Bearmon began to cry again. "It's not your fault, Darien," he sniffed. "Please, don't blame yourself."

Darien suddenly felt guilty for shouting at the bear cub, his expression softened instantly upon seeing Bearmon trying hard not to cry.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you, Bearmon. You don't deserve that, I'm sorry. I'm just too worried for Kira, Kanto and Jon's safety."

"I.. I understand," Bearmon said between restrained sobs. He quickly wiped the tears away with the fur of his arms.

"Where do you think we are?"

"This is Database Island, Darien. We're in my home world, the Digital World."

Darien remembered what Kotemon had told them about the Digital World and nodded slowly. He was slightly scared of being at a strange alien world, but he was determined to save his sister and friends that time to think about anything else. Looking around him, Darien noticed that the Digital World was a very different place compared to Earth. If Bearmon didn't tell him, Darien wouldn't have guessed that he was on an island. Mountains surrounded the island, and the air there was cool and refreshing even though there was sunlight.

"It's a beautiful place," he managed to say before his eyes were transfixed on two strange towers on top of the highest mountain there. Dark clouds surrounded the two towers, and the sky there was dark purple. The towers exuded a strange evil aura around them, and Darien was slightly spooked by the sight of them.

"It would be if those towers are not here," Bearmon replied darkly. "Those twin towers are the main reason why digimons around here are going berserk. Before this, digimons of this island were peaceful and kind. Since those towers appeared everything changed! More and more digimons succumbed into the forces of evil that resided within those towers."

"Then Kira and Kanto must be there," Darien concluded grimly. "I'm going there."

Bearmon gasped in shock. "No, please, you... you can't! Many had gone there before but none of them returned."

"I don't care. That red bug must have brought Kira and Kanto there, I must go there and save them."

"Please, don't be rash. We don't know for sure whether they are really there or not."

"You don't have to come," Darien said coldly, which surprised both himself and Bearmon. "I.. I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me."

"You're worried about their safety. Let me take you to the Primary Village first. Elecmon can tell you everything, he's the wisest digimon around. He can help you," Bearmon said pleadingly. "Please, we must plan our moves first before barging in the enemy's lair."

"You're right," Darien said softly. "Thanks. Let's go."

Bearmon nodded. "That's... hey what's happening?" The grounds began to rumble, and instantly Bearmon's expression paled.

"What?" Darien said, noticing that Bearmon was terrified all of the sudden. "Is it an earthquake?"

"No. Darien, you must run, now!" Bearmon cried and tried to push the teen desperately. "We're in danger!"

"But what about you? I can't leave you!" Darien yelled.

Bearmon was touched of hearing that, and felt tears stinging his eyes again but he quickly wiped them away. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Suddenly, a giant yellow tortoise digimon appeared before them, thomping the grounds wildly with its strong legs. Its back was spiked instead of the normal smooth semicircular shell surface normal tortoises had. Its eyes were glowing red, giving it a look of pure evil.

"It's Tortomon!!" Bearmon gasped in fear, while Darien was transfixed there. "Darien, run!!"

"He's too big for you to handle..." Darien said in fear.

"No one's going anywhere!!" Tortomon bellowed loudly and shook the grounds surface again. The rumble caused both Darien and Bearmon to fell. Seeing the opportunity to finish off its targets, Tortomon hunched forward and raised its shell and roared, "Strong Carapace!!"

Darien suddenly felt something beeping and shaking inside his pocket, while Bearmon lunged forward and punched away some of the spikes launched from Tortomon's carapace. However the forces from the spikes were too strong for Bearmon to handle, and he barely managed to prevent the spikes from hitting him and Darien before Tortomon increased the intensity of his attacks.

A red beam shot out from Darien's trousers pocket and hit Bearmon on the back. The cub bear instantly was raised from the ground by an unknown force. Red aura radiated from his body, and Darien had to shield his eyes from the intense lights which was blazing. Meanwhile, Bearmon felt warm from the red aura and a new power surging through his body. He knew what was going to happen and closed his eyes with a smile on his face.

"Bearmon, Digivolve to..."

Bearmon's body and extremities suddenly grew at an alarming rate. His fur changed color from grey into midnight blue, and claws protryded from his paws. Red gloves designed with sharp metallic claws adorned themselves on his front paws as similar red shoulder pads materialized on his shoulder regions. Thick mass of white-blue fur erupted from around his neck, and his eyes glinted with deep red hue. The 'BEAR' cap he wore earlier shone with silver lights and turned into a crescent, and emblazoned itself on his forehead. Finally he stomped on the grounds, rumbling it over to cause earthquakes towards the awestruck Tortomon and howled his new digivolved name.

"Grizzmon!!"

"What in the world happened just now?" Darien wondered, his jaw dropped slightly in awe. "Bearmon? Is that you?"

"Grizzmon now, partner," Grizzmon replied, and his voice no longer contain the innocence that was evident in little Bearmon's voice. Instead it sounded bold and confident, mixed with the sounds of the fierce growls of a bear. "I'm the digivolved form of Bearmon, now I'm in my Champion level. I'm a Vaccine digimon, and my attacks are Crescent Dawn and Counter Attack!"

"Partner?"

"We'll talk later. There's an evil Tortomon on the loose, and I plan to put a stop for that!"

Grizzmon turned to face Tortomon, who had wasted no time in attempting to attack him with his Strong Carapace attack again. The carapaces were launched but strangely, Grizzmon took all the attacks without bothering to evade. Each time the carapace spikes hit him, the places where they were hit glimmered with red sparks. All the while he was being attacked, Grizzmon advanced briskly towards Tortomon. Suddenly without warning Grizzmon leapt up in the air and loomed towards Tortomon, both his front claws suddenly flared with crimson lightings.

"Counter Attack!!" Grizzmon exclaimed loudly, and landed with such brute force onto the possessed Tortomon. He had used the same amount of power that generated from the blows he received from Tortomon's attacks. Tortomon howled in pain and doubled over as Grizzmon leapt away before it combusted into data particles. Grizzmon then sighed heavily and reverted back to Bearmon. Excitedly, he jumped in the air in delight and ran towards Darien whose eyes were opened wide in shock.

"I did it! Yaay, I did it! I digivolved! Wait till Kotemon hears about this! Woo-hoo!!" Bearmon stopped rejoicing when he noticed Darien's expression, which bore the feelings of shock and fear.

"You... killed it," he whispered hoarsely.

Bearmon grew solemn and fixed his large blue eyes into Darien's dark brown orbs. "It's the only way to save Tortomon. The Curse of the Crimson Eyes had possessed his mind. He no longer had any control on his minds. There's no other way to restore him back to his normal peace-loving state. By deleting him, he would then be reconfigured back into a digi-egg. He's not a bad digimon, so there is a chance for him to have a new life in future."

Darien looked at him strangely. "I think I'll need some time to digest that over," he said slowly. "When you were Grizzmon, you've said something about me being your partner. What does that suppose to mean?"

"Darien, I think we have _a lot_ to talk about."

=====================================

"Is he dead?"

"Hush, Kotemon. Of course he's not. He's just fainted, that's all."

Jon could hear voices talking around him as he struggled to open his eyes. He recognized one of them as Kotemon's voice but the other voice sounded raspy. As lights entered his eyes, he began to see shades of a blue figure with a pair of yellow eyes, and a little bit further than him was a blur of red and violet.

"Where..."

"Elecmon, he's waking up!"

"Stand aside, let me see him."

More figures appeared on Jon's face as his eyes adjusted themselves to the lights. He saw Kotemon looking at his face, both of his eyes glowed with excitement as Jon began to move his head sideways. He could see a plump red rodent-like creature with purple stripes and blue eyes standing just beside his head. Behind the rodent was a multicolored Lego creature sitting on a lap of a redhead teenager whom Jon didn't recognize.

"What.. happened? Where am I?"

"You're in the Primary Village, Jon," Kotemon quickly replied. "We're back in my world!"

"Your world? You mean the Digital World that you told us about back then?" Jon asked disbelievingly.

"That's right!" Kotemon chirped exuberantly.

"How did I get here?"

"It's just our luck that the portal led us to Primary Village instead of various other places in this island," Kotemon replied.

"You feeling alright, kid?" the red rodent asked. "I'm Elecmon, caretaker of the Primary Village."

Jon didn't reply, his blue eyes were taking in every detail he could see all around him. His mouth formed an 'O' shaped as he saw a lot of what looked like balls with eyes, mouths and ears bouncing about everywhere. However his interest was that another human was there as well, a teenager. Jon took in the teen's red hair, hazel eyes and built features and realized that he wasn't much older than Darien.

"Hey kid," Max greeted him with a slight wave of his right hand. He wasn't smiling, instead he seemed to be studying Jon's features as well.

"Hh.. hello," Jon replied slowly and turned his gazes towards the colorful Lego creature.

"Hi! I'm ToyAgumon, Max's partner digimon. It's so nice to see another Digidestined around here. Is that Kotemon your partner? How did you come here? With who..."

"ToyAgumon..." Max said wearily. "Don't bother him too much with your series of questions. Give him a break, he just woke up."

Jon shook his head slowly. "No, it's okay. I.. I'm Jon. I came here with a friend of mine, he's as old as you I think," he explained and gestured politely towards Max, who nodded as a signal for him to continue. Jon continued to relate all the events that led him to the Digital World to the small crowd around him without any interruption.

"So there are three more humans out there on this island," Elecmon said after Jon finished telling his tales.

"Two of them are taken away by a Kuwagamon obviously," ToyAgumon added. "And one of them are missing, and he's with a Bearmon."

Jon thought for a while and took out the device he had gotten at the shrine earlier that day.

"Excuse me, but can anyone tell me what this device is? We used it to open a gate leading to this place," Jon inquired and presented the device for everyone to see.

"I have the same device as you," Max said and took out the same emerald-green device from his pocket. "It's called a Digivice."

"Having a Digivice means that you are a chosen child, a Digidestined chosen by our ancestors as saviors of our world from darkness," Elecmon explained calmly. "It has an innate ability to evolve your partner digimon into its higher and more powerful level. That process is called Digivolution."

"Saving the world?" Jon sputtered in shock, his eyes bulged in disbelief. "But... I'm just a normal kid!"

"Why don't you two kids have a conversation while I tend to the babies?" Elecmon suggested kindly. "If you have anything to ask, just ask Max. He's been here for a while, and he's a big help around here. He'll have the answers for your questions."

Jon turned to face the older boy while Elecmon scurried away to take care of the baby digimons.

"You'll get used to it," Max replied assuringly. "It'll be nice to have some help around here," he added with a slight grin. Now that he had smiled, Jon noticed that Max's facial expression had became a lot warmer than before. "Having to vanquish evil digimons all on our own is getting tideous, what more with the fact that more and more digimons on this island fell under the influence of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes."

"The Curse of the Crimson Eyes?"

"It's how digimons around here gone bad. The curse possesses their minds and bodies, and gains full control of the infected digimons. The only way to save the digimons is by deleting them, but the digimons are long dead anyway. No longer able to control their own bodies they are just like living zombies."

"Delete? You mean kill them?"

"Yes. Digimons are made out of computer data, so the appropriate word used to define killing a digimon is deleting. After being deleted, most digimons will get reconfigured as a digi-egg." Max proceeded by telling Jon every details he knew about the ways of lives of the digimons.

"You sounded like you have a lifetime worth of experience. How long have you been here actually?" Jon asked curiously.

Max exchanged looks with ToyAgumon. "Well, I'd say about two weeks, give or take a day or two. I was chased by an infected Snimon inside the forests of Highton View Terrace and ended up here, and I met ToyAgumon. He digivolved into Veedramon and destroyed Snimon. Then we went up here and basically, we've been doing the superhero stuffs around this village, helping Elecmon to take care of the baby digimons and protecting the village from more infected digimons. Elecmon and ToyAgumon were the ones who taught me about digimons, and I've managed to pick up a few stuffs around here myself after being here for two weeks."

"Wow," Jon commented. "That's really cool. But don't you miss your parents for being away that long?"

Max's expression darkened a little. "Well, I... ran away from my aunt and uncle's home. I was actually heading to my mom's home at central Odaiba when I decided to take a break from the sunrays inside the forests. I admit it was hard at first, trying not to think about those who are close to me, although so far there are like, two of them. I constantly thought about my mom, and my dad too during the first week. But after a while, I learned to make use of my time here, and... well, here I am."

"Why did you run away from home?"

Max shifted uneasily from his seat. "It's kind of private, but maybe I'll tell you someday. Say, what's the date today?"

"It's the second of June, why?"

"What? That's impossible! I ran away from home at the second of June as well. It should be like, sixteenth or seventeenth!"

"No, here, take a look." Jon showed Max his digital watch which had the date, day and time imprinted on the small screen.

"What could this mean?" Max asked to no one in particular.

"The only way to explain it is that there must be a vast time difference between our world and yours," Kotemon suggested.

"Okay," Jon nodded trying his best to comprehend with the new knowledges he had obtained, while Max just sighed loudly. After learning about a new world, digimons and everything, time differences between two worlds wasn't that hard to believe. However, he had one more question which he was dying to know the answer.

"Do you think we can ever go home?"

"I don't know Jon, I seriously don't know. What I do know is that when we've done what we're sent to do in this world, we can go home."

* * *

**Review comments:**

_**SilverWarrior**_ - Thanks for reviewing this fic. I like your version of the story of the original Digidestined, I've never realized that it has been there for quite a time now. I hope you'll come again soon.

_**Psychorabbit**_ - Your suggestions are always been helpful for me in planning future chapters. I'm glad that you like ToyAgumon. What do you think about Bearmon and Kotemon?

_**Digikaiser3605**_ - Thanks for reviewing and for liking this story. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.


	4. Diamond Storm

**- BOOK I : THE LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED -**

**Chapter 04 : Diamond Storm**

**=====================================**

Kira woked up with a start when she felt something landed softly on her face. Opening her eyes, she suddenly felt a slight pain at the back of her head and gasped slightly. Raising herself slowly while rubbing her eyes, Kira noticed that she was inside a wooden cage. In the darkness she couldn't see anything clearly, although she could barely make out shapes of trees covered in shadows of darkness. Everything was dark, gloomy with only a small hint of sunrays that escaped the extremely thick canopies formed by the trees. The deathly silence around her was frightening, and Kira wondered how she'd got there in the first place. That was when everything came back to her.

"A red stag beetle captured me..." she said slowly, and tried to stand up. The cage was obviously large enough to accomodate her even when she was standing, but her action instantly caused the cage to start swinging slightly, making Kira lost her balance and fell. Expecting the hard wooden surface of the cage floor, Kira was surprised to find herself landing on top of something which she thought was a body of another human. As if confirming to her thoughts, a soft boyish yelp was heard, and Kira recognized the voice instantly.

"Kanto?" she asked carefully, and was instantly relieved when she saw a pair of familiar violet eyes staring at her. "Oh Kanto, thank goodness it's you! I'm so afraid that I'm all alone here. I didn't notice you because it's too dark."

"Kira?" the boy asked groggily with a slight hint of confusion. "What are you doing on top of me?"

Blushing, Kira immediately moved away from Kanto. "I.. I tried to get up, but the cage swayed and I lost my balance. I.. accidentally fell on you obviously."

"S'okay... you woke me up actually," Kanto murmured and tried to get up. "Where are we? Did you say cage just now?"

"I did, and it's look like we're captured!" Kira said and shivered. "What's going on? The last thing I remembered that a red stag beetle captured us, and then I woke up here."

Kanto shook his head slowly. "I don't know what's going on here myself. But one thing I do know is that the stag beetle, whatever it is, it's not around here anymore." He stopped talking when he saw Kira suddenly trembling with fear.

"I'm scared, Kanto. I'm really scared," she whispered and sniffed slightly; Kanto could see that she was struggling not to cry.

"I'm scared too, but... we'll get out here," Kanto assured her by grasping her hand tightly. After a while he released her hand, and crawled over to the wooden bars and looked around. He saw that the cage with them in it was hung over a sturdy tree branch. The cage was locked by what looked like a metallic rusty padlock.

"I don't think we're at Summer Lake anymore," Kira said quietly. "I don't remember the campsite being this dark. Everywhere was bright and shiny back there."

Kanto glanced towards Kira and as both their eyes began to get used to the darkness, Kira saw that Kanto was looking at her thoughtfully.

"At least the big bug isn't around," he muttered.

"How do you plan for us to escape from here?" Kira asked, eyeing the distance between where they were and the grounds.

"Well, we can always try to break the wooden bars together but after that, going down there is going to be a problem."

For what seemed like eternity, both of them leaned against one of the wooden bars and sat close together. They remained silent, and aside from their own breathing everything remained quiet until Kira decided to start a conversation.

"This is definitely not what I have in mind for our first meeting," she said, trying her very best to sound normal. However it wasn't hard for Kanto to detect that her voice was slightly shaky.

"Are you scared, Kira?" he asked slowly.

Kira sighed slightly. "You're not helping, Kanto. I'm trying to calm myself from being scared and you have to point it out to me."

"Sorry," Kanto muttered and looked away. "I tend to be very blunt sometimes."

"Well if we're going to be stuck together for a very long time, I don't think we should argue. So no, don't apologize," Kira said, and was slightly glad that Kanto looked back towards her. "So why don't I tell you everything that you need to know about me, and you tell me everything about you after I've finished?"

"Sounds like fun," he said slowly. "Why don't you start?"

Kira then proceeded by telling Kanto just about everything that he'd heard from Darien while they were in the bus, but he remained quiet and listened intently. Albeit his shy attitude Kanto began to feel himself warming up to Kira's naturally cheerful demeanour, and wondered on how she was able to adapt herself even in their current imprisoned condition. He was caught up with his thoughts that he hadn't aware that Kira had finished telling him about herself.

"Looks like you're already bored," she said with a smile.

"No, no," Kanto stammered, blushing slightly although it was hard to see. "It's just that... your brother had told about you and Jon so much while we're in the bus."

"Oh, well, that's just Darien," she laughed lightly. "I bet he was the one who started talking with you, because you don't seem to talk that much. But since we're stuck here I guess I'm gonna be bored to death if I'm the only one who is talking, so why don't you introduce yourself?"

_'Like brother, like sister,'_ Kanto mused silently. He then told Kira basically everything about himself and what he had told Darien earlier about his family and his interest in art.

"Think we're gonna be good friends?" suddenly Kira asked, and completely caught Kanto off guard.

"Huh? Well, I guess, if you don't mind me, then I guess we can be friends," he stammered again. "But, what about Jon? Is he your boyfriend?"

Kira let out what sounded like a small squeek as if something had caught into her throat, and she slapped Kanto's shoulder lightly and somewhat playfully. What baffled Kanto next was that she was actually straining herself from laughing.

"I told you I tend to be quite blunt," Kanto said, surprised that he was grinning slightly.

"Boyfriend? Tell that to Darien and he'll have a fit!" Kira said, trying to stiffle her laughter. "Well I guess you can say that Jon and I are pretty close, we practically grow up together. But we're definitely not a couple, we're more like brother and sister. I'll tell you something but promise you won't tell Jon that I'm the one who told you this, I think it's pretty necessary so that you won't ask him something which he's sensitive about. After all you can be..."

"... very blunt," Kanto finished her sentence, and made a zipping motion on his lips. "My lips are sealed."

Kira laughed lightly. "You know, I don't think I'll mind being trapped here with you. You're a lot cuter and funnier than I thought once I get to know you." Kanto blushed slightly from the comments while Kira's face became more solemn.

"Okay, the first thing you need to know about Jon is that.... his mother has passed away a few years ago, when both of us were six."

Kanto gulped. "I don't know that..."

"Jon had a pretty tough childhood before his dad got to know our family. His dad was always busy and Jon was alone, up to the point when he had to take care of himself. However knowing that Jon was lonely, our mum decided to make it a point to have Jon to come to our house everyday for dinner whenever his dad couldn't make it home. It was kinda hard to convince Jon to come at first, so Darien and I started going to his house and brought with us food so that we could eat together. After a few days, we managed to convince him to come over, and that was the time he blurted out that how he wished that he had a mum again and just broke down, crying. Mum then told him that she would be more than happy to have him as a son, and both Darien and I were delighted that we've got a new brother. Jon was a couple of months younger than I am, so I was quite enthralled myself to be a big sister. From then onwards, we grew up together like siblings."

Kanto nodded. "That's a very kind thing all of you've done to him. He seems very happy now, who'd have thought that he had a very sad past."

"Which reminds me...." Kira said with a grin. "From what I've known of you, you are still ten right?"

"Uh-huh, but I'll be eleven soon," Kanto said, and instantly saw where this was going. "Nu-uh, you're not gonna say that you wanna be my big sister!"

"What's wrong with that? You're an only child, and I'm older than you."

"I'm bigger than you," Kanto mumbled. "And we've only just known each other for one day."

Kira smiled contently. "Okay then. Why don't we think of this later, when we escaped this cage?"

Kanto nodded, and for another few minutes they were silent again. He yawned sleepily when suddenly Kira's head plopped on his shoulder. She was fast asleep, and Kanto decided to stay awake and tried not to move too much in order not to disturb the sleeping girl.

The sounds of rustling leaves nearby suddenly alerted Kanto. It was a sound of someone's moving, and it sounded very close by.

"Hello? Anyone there?" he called out, hoping that it wasn't the stag beetle that had brought them here earlier.

A soft thud was heard on the cage's roof, causing it to sway slightly. Kanto wasn't able to see who was on top of the cage as the roof was fully made out of wood slabs instead of the wood bars like the walls. It was moving about on the roof, and Kanto realized that whatever that was up there it was quite light in weight. Suspicious of what was there on the roof, Kanto gently laid Kira on the floor and crawled slowly to the other side of the wall bars. However when he was there, he received the shock of his life when a head of a fox appeared from the top.

"So there you are," the fox said, and Kanto was quite surprised to hear that the voice was feminine. He studied the fox closely, taking in her yellow fur and what looked like curious blue eyes.

"Who... or what are you?" Kanto asked shakily.

"Are you two humans?" the fox asked back. Kanto noted a serious tone in her voice, mixed with curiousity and what suspiciously sounded like delight. He nodded silently, not taking his eyes of the strange fox creature.

"There's no need to be afraid of me, boy. I am called Renamon."

"Huh? Renamon? You mean a digimon?" Kanto asked, quite perplexed but at the same time he managed to recall on what Kotemon had told all of them earlier before the whole kidnapping incident.

"Yes, I'm a Rookie digimon despite my physical features," the fox, now known as Renamon, replied. She then leapt from the roof and landed her feet on the protruded parts of the woodslabs floors, her right hand grabbed one of the bar as she expertly balanced herself. Kanto was slightly surprised to see that this fox, Renamon, was standing on two feet and looked very humanoid. This biped fox had a graceful body which was covered by yellow coat of fur with thick tufts of white fur around her neck and over her chest. She was wearing a pair of long purple gloves which was opened at the fingers, each was adorned with the symbol of yin and yang. She seemed to be having a graceful yet energetic aura radiating around her.

"You didn't answer my question, boy. Are you two humans?" she asked patiently.

"We're humans all right," Kanto replied. "I'm Kanto, and the sleeping girl over there is Kira."

"A girl? Where?" Renamon asked curiously and peered closer. She saw Kira sleeping peacefully and undisturbed over the corner of the cage. "Whatever happened to the two of you?"

"A stag beetle monster captured the both of us, and obviously it was him who had placed us in this cage," Kanto answered. "Can you help us getting out from here?"

"Obviously you're talking about Kuwagamon," Renamon said. "I'll help you get out then, you two are definitely in deep trouble if it was Kuwagamon who had captured the two of you. Now stand back."

Kanto did as what Renamon had told him to do, and went to wake Kira up. Renamon then hoisted her legs up while making sure that her grip on the wooden bar she was holding was secure. Summoning her powers she delivered a powerful kick which broke the padlock and knocked away three of the wooden bars at the same time. The hole formed from her kick was big enough for Renamon to enter.

"Now hold on to me, you two," Renamon instructed. Quickly, Kanto and Kira moved near her, and Renamon grabbed each child under her arms. The two children were surprised of the female fox's strength, and were furthermore astonished when she walked over to the hole which she'd came through earlier.

"You're not going to jump, are you?" Kira asked worriedly.

Renamon took a look at Kira whom she didn't have a chance to get acquainted earlier. "I'll close my eyes if I were you," she suggested with a calm voice. "Don't worry, I've done this many times before."

"If you say so," both Kira and Kanto said together and closed their eyes tight. Renamon tightened her grips onto the two children and leapt gracefully into the air. She landed on the grounds safely.

"Allright, you can open your eyes now," she told them.

Both children were delighted to find that they were already out from the cage, and looked at Renamon with admiration.

"You're really strong, er... I don't think I've known your name," Kira said with a slight smile. "But thank you. I'm Kira."

"It's Renamon, and it's a pleasure. Elecmon sent me to look for you here as no other digimon dares to enter here," Renamon replied.

"What's an Elecmon? Is it a digimon as well?" Kanto asked curiously.

"Elecmon is my mentor," Renamon answered simply. "That is, when he is Leomon. He's actually the caretaker of Primary Village."

"Leomon? Primary Village?" both kids asked confusedly, and Renamon rolled her eyes and sighed.

"It looks like an explaination is due," she muttered, but before she could explain another voice boomed over the dark forest.

"Who dares enter my domain?!" a voice suddenly boomed from the darkness of the forest.

Renamon's face twitched slightly. "Okay, Kanto, Kira, I want the two of you to hide behind the trees. Things are going to get really nasty around here," she said calmly, and ushered the two kids to hide.

Kuwagamon then appeared from the darkness, the only thing that was very visible on him was his pair of glowing red eyes. He was the one who had called over to them earlier, and he looked very angry towards Renamon.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "Where are the children that I've caught?"

"Oh, don't bother to find them. I've freed them," Renamon said airily.

"What?!" Kuwagamon was furious of hearing Renamon's confession. "You've been a thorn on my side for too long, Renamon!"

"Then why don't we settle this today, Kuwagamon?" Renamon asked and took on a battle stance.

"Hah! You're challenging me, Renamon? You DARE to fight me? Haven't you learnt your lesson? You're just a mere Rookie!"

"What's the matter? Afraid you'll be beaten by a Rookie digimon?"

"Don't you remember what had happened the last time we've fought, fox? It was lucky that your good-for-nothing mentor was there to save you, otherwise I'd be enjoying a very hearty meal after that battle," Kuwagamon said mockingly.

Renamon however remained in her calm demeanour. "Well, you never know. He might be around. But I've got a few more tricks of my own." She leapt into the air with outstanding grace and agility, and raised her tail upwards.

**_"Diamond Storm!!"_** Powerful barrages of leaf-shaped crystal projectiles suddenly showered over Kuwagamon, but the insect digimon was quite prepared himself. However, just as he was about to strike Renamon, the fox disappeared out of sight. This surprised Kuwagamon greatly, but he was more surprised when suddenly Renamon reappeared out of nowhere behind his head, and delivered a swift and powerful kick on his neck region. Then, she teleported away again in front of Kuwagamon's face and smiled.

**_"Scissors Claw!!"_** Kuwagamon attempted to attack Renamon with his sharp claws but Renamon made a back-flip in mid-air, thus avoiding herself from getting hurt. Undaunted, Kuwagamon then attempted to ram her with his deadly pincers just as Renamon was about to land over the ground. This surprised Renamon, and she quickly teleported out of sight.

"Nice skill, little fox," Kuwagamon commented. "Did that mentor of yours teach it?"

"I've been honing my own skills lately, Leomon only offers pointers on how to improve, as he said that I'm already good enough to defeat a weak Champion such as you!" Renamon said, appearing again from somewhere behind of Kuwagamon. She then fired another Diamond Storm attack, targetted precisely on Kuwagamon's insect-like wings. The crystal projectiles immediately tore the wings, and Kuwagamon could no longer fly.

"Why you sneaky little wretch!" Kuwagamon wanted to slash Renamon to pieces with his claws only to find that Renamon was gone again.

"Can't catch me!" Renamon called over from the sturdy branch which held the cage. Kuwagamon looked up over the tree but was shocked to see that Renamon had cut the rope that was holding the cage, and the cage crashed hard onto his head. Kuwagamon staggered a little before he dropped onto the grounds unconscious. Renamon then smiled in satisfaction and jumped down.

"You two can come out now," she called over towards Kanto and Kira. Nervously, the two appeared from behind a very thick tree. Both had an awestruck look plastered on their faces.

"You're really strong," Kira said, almost whispering.

"You've beaten him easily," Kanto said, pointing to the unconscious Kuwagamon.

Renamon nodded with an appreciative smile. "He's unconscious for now, so let's get you two to Primary Village before he wakes up."

* * *

It didn't take long for Darien and Bearmon to finally reach the Primary Village as Bearmon knew quite well on how to navigate themselves around the island. To Darien's relief, Jon was there with a redhead whom he didn't recognize. The two of them seemed to be talking and getting along quite well among themselves before Bearmon decided to make his arrival known.

"Is anyone here?!" he called out, his voice amplified by the paws which he put at the sides of his mouth.

The call certainly attracted Jon and Kotemon's attention, and it didn't take them long to race with each other to greet Darien and Bearmon while the redhead had an amused look on his face.

"Darien!" Jon cried happily, both hands waving out towards him.

"Hi there, Jon," Darien managed to say before the younger boy jumped up to him for a quick hug. Then, the boy took his hand and led him to the redhead, whom Darien thought look almost his age.

"Darien, this is Max. He's been around for almost two weeks." Jon introduced the redhead, whom had extended his hand prior to seeing Darien. Darien took it with a smile. "Max, this is Darien."

"Pleased to meet you," Max said, not really smiling but was evidently happy with meeting Darien. "About the two weeks thing, we've just realized that there's a major time difference between here and Earth. Actually I came here on the same day as you, maybe only a couple of hours earlier, Earth time."

"That's... really weird. But anyway, the pleasure's all mine," Darien said formally, but in a friendly manner while he made a quick analysis on Max. He noticed that they were about the same age, but Max seemed to be a little bit taller than him. Compared to Darien, Max was a little bit more on the muscular side while Darien was leaning towards the athletic type. The way he brought himself, Darien was almost certain that Max was a little bit aloof before another voice chirped in.

"My name's ToyAgumon! How are you?"

Darien looked to the source of the voice and saw, to his surprise, a talking Lego dinosaur.

"I'm quite fine, thanks," he stammered in surprise.

Max grinned slightly. "ToyAgumon's my partner digimon, and he can digivolve to Veedramon."

Darien shifted his gaze towards Bearmon, who was happily chatting with Kotemon. "Partner? Bearmon over there is mine, he can evolve to Grizzmon."

"So you've made him digivolve?"

"Just now, and it was more like this device that made him evolve rather than me." Darien showed Max the device he had gotten earlier.

"Ah, a Digivice, I have one just like yours," Max replied and showed Darien the same emerald device. Both of them were quiet for a while, feeling quite awkward with each other. Max because he wasn't good in making friends, and Darien was still worried about Kira and Kanto's safeties. Seeing the silence, Jon decided to break it by saying:

"Elecmon has sent a few digimons to look for Kira and Kanto."

That seemed to catch Darien's attention immediately. "Really? Have they found anything yet?"

Max shook his head slightly. "We've searched nearly all parts of the island, but Renamon hasn't returned yet from the deep part of the forest."

"Renamon?"

"She's Elecmon's top disciple and student," Max replied with a grin.

"And one tough chic!" ToyAgumon added with a slight chuckle.

"She's the only one who's willing to venture inside the deeper parts of the forest on this island," Max continued. "We would've gone there as well but we were assigned to check on other areas."

"What about the twin towers at the top of the highest peak on this island?" Darien blurted out, remembering the towers he and Bearmon had seen earlier. Immediately, Max's expression darkened and Jon's face was noticably paler, while ToyAgumon stared onto the grounds. Everyone was silent for a while before Max decided to answer the question as best as he could.

"We're hoping that Renamon _will_ find them inside the deep forest."

Jon looked up to face Max. "Now that the three of us are here, don't you think that we might have a better chance to find Kira and Kanto if we go to the deep forest ourselves? Renamon may be strong, but I'd hate to think the fact that if several stronger Champions suddenly decided to corner her up, even she couldn't defend herself that well. Especially if she does find Kira and Kanto."

"Renamon is very resourceful," Max said thoughtfully. "But you're right, Jon. If she does find them, that she'll need all the help she can get if more possessed digimons decided to show up. I remember her saying that she wanted to settle some old scores with Kuwagamon."

"Then let's go," Darien said impatiently, worried of the two children's fate. Suddenly he remembered something and dug his trouser's pockets again, and took out another two identical Digivices. "Do you think that these Digivices might belong to them?"

"Possibly," Max answered. "Jon has one, but his digimon partner is still pretty much undetermined, although I'm willing to bet that it's gonna be that Kotemon over there. The two of them hang out with each other pretty much the same way ToyAgumon and I do."

* * *

Renamon led Kira and Kanto carefully to cross the deep forest, her senses were telling her that as long as they were in the forest they were still pretty much in danger. However she didn't let her emotions show through her calm expression, so both children had no idea. Kira and Kanto were talking with each other, although they were slightly whispering Renamon could easily listen to their conversation if she chose to do so. She could hear that the two children were talking about her, and smiled slightly when she heard that both of them were complimenting her ability to fight Kuwagamon, but decided not to listen any further as it would violate the real purposes of her sharp senses.

"You two should keep in down, all those chattings will attract unwanted attention," she said with a slight smirk, silencing the two children instantly.

"We're just talking about you, Renamon, about how you fought that giant bug," Kira said.

"You were great back there," Kanto said.

"I appreciate that, but I don't think it's advisable to make any more noise than we already have by walking," Renamon informed them. "You can talk about me later after we've exited this dark forest." The two children murmured their agreements and followed Renamon closely.

The three of them walked in silence before Renamon's sharp hearing sense picked up a movement somewhere from their behind. A glint of what looked like a sword caught her eyes, and a whooshing sound was heard sweeping across the top of them. The earth began to shake slightly as loud thumping sounds were heard coming from the direction where they were going.

"It looks like we're being cornered," Renamon said slowly.

Four pairs of glowing crimson eyes appeared in four directions. One of them then stepped out from the darkness; it was a yellow ape like creature carrying a bone club. Next was a warrior-like digimon with a sword and was armored, its face was malicious. The third digimon screeched from the air and they could see a malicious rat like digimon with wings of the bats. The final digimon was a hulking digimon that stomped its way towards them. It was a digimon in brown and black matted fur, with red hands and feet, and it was drooling.

_"Apemon, Champion type digimon of Vaccine type. Attacks are Mega Bone Stick and Metallic Fur."_

_"Musyamon, Champion type, Virus. Attacks are Shogun Sword and Ninja Blade."_

_"Vilemon, Virus, Champion. Attacks are Nightmare Shocker, and er.. Scratch."_

_"Wendigomon, Viral Champion. Its attacks : Howling Destroyer and Cable Crasher."_

"Why are you muttering their names and all that stuffs, Renamon?" Kanto whispered fearfully.

"It gives me a better way of analyzing my enemies," Renamon said urgently. "And I think we're overpowered. The four of them are Champion digimons, and three of them even had an edge against me especially as I'm still a Rookie."

"What do we do now?" Kira asked as the four red-eyed digimons closing in on them.

"I'll fight, but the two of you are vulnerable and I have to protect you," Renamon replied, and took a few steps backward with Kira and Kanto behind her back.

"Surrender the children, Renamon! Our master demands that he wants them!" the creature known as Wendigomon began with a loud booming voice that instantly marked it as the leader of the pack.

"If you do, we'll leave you unharmed," Apemon said, its voice was calm yet forceful.

"Otherwisssse, you'll sssuffer dire consequencessss..." Vilemon continued, its voice sounded like snakes hissing.

"And we won't even hesitate to do that," Musyamon said gruffly.

Renamon held both of the children tightly. "I haven't master the skill of teleporting perfectly, let alone teleporting three instead of one. But I have no choice. Hold on to me very tight you two." She closed her eyes and summoned all her inner powers to take the three of them into safety. However, they only managed to teleport a few meters away from the four evil digimons. It was a good distance enough for them to make a run for it, but Renamon knew that the digimons would be able to catch up with them. She realized then that there was only one way to save Kira and Kanto, and that was for her to delay the other digimons to buy the children time.

"Listen to me, Kira, Kanto," she whispered urgently. "The two of you must run now, I'll fight them to make sure that nobody will follow you."

"But Renamon..." Kira protested. "You said it yourself just now, you're no match for them."

"We'll run together," Kanto said. "We can't leave you here, you could be killed!"

Renamon looked into both of their eyes, and suddenly she smiled.

"Don't worry about me. I'm one tough fox, it won't be so easy for them to defeat me!" Her expression then became considerably more solemn as she knelt before them. "You two are very important for our world. My mentor told me about the legends about you and your friends. You are the key to our world's salvation. That's all I can say for now. Go, now!"

Kira felt tears stinging her eyes as she still refused to budge as Kanto pulled her hand gently but urgently. "Be safe, Renamon. We'll see you again." With that, the two of them ran away as fast as they could muster, not daring to turn back as they heard sounds of angry outbursts from the evil digimons and Renamon's battle cries. Knowing that Renamon had practically put her life at stake to ensure their safety, both of them ran and ran away. Tiredness soon came, and both felt their knees buckled and fell onto the grounds. Kanto got up quickly but Kira just remained there, frozen and sobbing continuously.

"Kira... we have to go," Kanto said hoarsely, his eyes were stinging as well but he quickly wiped them away.

"I can't run anymore, my legs hurt, Kanto. It really hurts," she sobbed. Kanto thought of the worse, but let out a relieved sigh when he saw that Kira had only sprained her ankle slightly from the fall. Nothing was broken.

"Do you want me to help you get up?" he asked. "Your ankle is sprained, but its nothing that can't be cured. However I doubt you can walk properly for the time being, let alone run."

"No, that way I'll delay you," she whispered. Kanto was shocked to hear that. "You go..."

"No!" he said sternly. "No, I'm not leaving you. It's bad enough we have to leave Renamon, I'm not leaving you, Kira."

Kira smiled wearily. "Then I guess we're in it together."

They sat on the grounds and wondered what had happened to their friend, Renamon. Thinking of Renamon made Kira cry again, and Kanto tried his best to calm her down. However the sounds of footsteps instantly froze them in their places. Faint light was coming from the path they were taking, and soft cries were heard. Kanto was about to attempt in carrying Kira to safety when he heard a familiar voice.

"Kira!"

Another familiar voice, sounding somewhat younger, called out: "Kanto!"

Yet another voice, one Kanto hadn't heard before, was calling out: "Renamon!"

"Kanto... it's Darien and Jon!" Kira said, her tone was slightly happier. "It's them!"

"Darien! Jon! We're here!!" Kanto yelled out as loudly as he could. The three voices immediately stopped calling out their names, and they could hear that they were running towards them. The faint lights became clearer and finally they saw a tall redhead teenager carrying a torch running towards them, followed by a strange Lego baby dinosaur. They were followed closely by Darien, Jon, and Bearmon and Kotemon.

"Kira! Kanto!" Darien and Jon quickly ran past the redhead towards the two of them.

"Darien! Jon! We're so glad that you're here!" Kira cried. Darien knelt close to his little sister and noticed that she had tearstains on her face.

"Why are you crying, Kira? What's wrong?" he asked soothingly as he hugged her close to him.

"Her ankle is sprained," Kanto said weakly, and felt like his knees were buckling again. Luckily, Jon caught him in time, and supported him on his body.

"You look like you've been through a lot," Jon remarked.

Darien immediately swoop his sister up, and cradled her protectively. The redhead immediately approached them.

"Where's Renamon? Do you know where she is?"

Hearing Renamon's name again, Kira began to feel tears trickling down her face. She then told the redhead about how Renamon had saved them, and ended up putting her life in line to make sure the two of them escaped.

"This doesn't look good, if we hurry we can still save her!" the redhead said urgently, and took out his Digivice. "ToyAgumon, ready!"

"Ready, Max!"

**"ToyAgumon Digivolve to... Veedramon!!"**

Kira and Kanto watched in awe as the little toy baby dino morphed into a fearsome blue dragon monster. However it had a kindly expression that instantly wiped all their fears away, before it changed into a more focused and determined look.

"Darien, I'll help out. I'll help you punish those who had done this to your sister and friend!" Bearmon said quickly.

Darien nodded and tried to balance Kira on one hand while struggling to take out his Digivice with his remaining free hand.

**"Bearmon Digivolve to... Grizzmon!!"**

"The two of you, go and help Renamon out. She's outnumbered and she'll need all the help she can get," Max ordered. The two Champion digimons complied and quickly ran along the path. Max ran along with the two digimons but he had a hard time to catch up, and Darien followed close by with Kira on his arms. Kanto then insisted that he could still walk, and Jon ran slowly behind Kanto to watch him out, with Kotemon close to his behind.

Veedramon and Grizzmon arrived at the battle scene, and saw that Renamon was being attacked by the four evil digimons altogether. Wendigomon kept slapping her away with his giant paws towards Musyamon, who would kicked her towards Apemon. Apemon would hit her with his bone stick while Vilemon constantly used his sharp claws to slash Renamon's body. The dragon and the bear digimon were enraged to see this and quickly roared to attract their attention.

_**"V-Breath Arrow!!"**_ Veedramon cried, and fired his signature attack towards the towering Wendigomon, whom he deemed was the strongest and the leader. Grizzmon then followed up by ramming Wendigomon using brute force towards the other evil digimons.

"Veedramon, take Renamon to safety. I'll handle them for a while!" Grizzmon said. Veedramon complied and quickly jumped into the circle of the four evil digimons, using his claws to slash the nearby Vilemon away. Renamon was severely hurt and could barely open her eyes, and Veedramon was careful to lift her as gently as possible. He successfully got Renamon into safety, under the care of the children who had just arrived.

"Kotemon, take care of her and the Digidestined," Veedramon instructed before leaving to help Grizzmon battle the evil digimons. Kotemon took out his wooden sword-stick and stood in a fighting stance, ready to protect everyone.

In the meantime, Grizzmon found himself being attacked by three out of four evil digimons simultaneously; the Vilemon that was attacked by Veedramon earlier was no where in sight. Three against two; the stakes seemed more favorable to the enemies. Veedramon then resorted to attack Apemon with his V-Nova Blast, sending it flying away.

"How come they're stronger than that Tortomon I've faced earlier this day?" Grizzmon wondered out loud, jumping out of Musyamon's swords, and loomed towards Wendigomon. _**"Counter Attack!!"**_

Wendigomon however retaliated by roaring out, **_"Howling Destroyer!!" _**The attack blasted Grizzmon off course and caused him to land on the grounds with full force. The grounds exploded upon contact with Grizzmon's energized paws, completely wasting out the power he had collected from the blows he received earlier.

"Oh dang! One attack wasted!" Grizzmon said in frustration. He quickly readied himself to attack, this time around he focused on a smaller enemy, and a certain yellow ape digimon had caught his attention. "Hey, monkey-boy, here!"

_**"Mega Bone Stick!!"**_ Apemon threw his bone stick angrily but Grizzmon caught it with his paw, and instantly crushed it using his immense strength.

"Oh, did I break your little toy! Sorry there, baboon-face. Here's a nice treat for you!" Grizzmon's eyes glowed white and the crescent mark on his forehead glowed with red and silver. Two rays of pure white light emerged from his eyes, followed by a ray of silver-red crescent shaped light from the aforementioned mark. The three lights then merged with each other and formed a spinning crescent-like boomerang.

_**"Crescent Dawn!!"**_ The crescent-boomerang made out of pure energy launched itself while spinning, and completely went through Apemon's body. The look of Apemon's face was of pure horror when he disintegrated into data particles.

"Have a great life in the future!" Grizzmon called out. "One down, three to go." However his body shimmered with red lights and he instantly de-digivolved back to Bearmon before he could help Veedramon out.

Veedramon was engaged in a serious fight with Musyamon and Wendigomon. Following Grizzmon's example he decided to eliminate the smaller target first. Thus, he kicked away Wendigomon and fired a V-Breath Arrow towards Musyamon. Musyamon deflected the attack with his sword, and launched itself towards Veedramon while slashing out his sword towards the dragon. The sword managed to cut Veedramon's arm slightly, an in anger Veedramon grabbed Musyamon with both claws. Raising Musyamon, who was struggling helplessly, with one hand, Veedramon energized his other hand with blue lights.

_**"Hammer Punch!!"**_ he punched Musyamon as mightily as he could, breaking his suit of armor before deleting him once and for all. After fighting Musyamon, Veedramon found himself unwillingly de-digivolved back into his Rookie form.

Meanwhile, Kotemon was guarding the five Digidestined and an injured Renamon when suddenly Vilemon appeared and blasted Kotemon away with his Nightmare Shocker attack. Wanting to finish off Renamon himself, Vilemon prepared to attack before Max threw quite a large stone towards his head. Angered, the evil bestial digimon attempted to attack him and Max took a few steps backward.

"Max!" Jon cried in concern, and shifted his attention towards Kotemon, who was lying face-down. "Kotemon, please help him!"

Kotemon lifted his head slowly upon hearing his name being called, but suddenly a flash of blinding green light showered him. Trying to see what was happening, he saw that the Digivice Jon was holding was glowing with the same green lights. Strange new energy surged through every part of his body, energizing him to make a transformation into his higher digivolutionary level.

**"Kotemon Digivolve to..."**

The fencing armor worn by Kotemon disintegrated, leaving a violet-blue dinosaur digimon who began to shimmer with green lights as he grew taller. Taking a humanoid form, the transformation was completed when an all-new digimon appeared; a human-dinosaur hybrid warrior with green skin and a muscular bare body, wearing a pair of violet trousers with an orange loincloth in the middle. Red waistbands materialized on his hands, adorned with sharp metallic blades. A very thin scabbard hung on his body, housing a stick-thin like sword and on his right hand was a bigger blade similar to those used in the kitchens for chopping purposes. An insanely large blade appeared perched on his back just as weird necklaces adorned themselves on his neck and waists. The digimon then took the largest blade from his back and used it to surf down to the grounds in an action similar to an expert surfer gliding on a surfboard over the raging waves.

**"Dinohumon!!"**

"Dino..humon?" Jon wondered out loud. "So you're my partner digimon after all!"

"Sure I am!" Dinohumon replied, although with a more masculine voice the hint of playfulness was still there. "Thanks to you Jon, I'm now Dinohumon, Champion level digimon of the Data type! My attacks, Lizard Dance and Autumn Exorcism, will completely destroy any evil!"

Dinohumon quickly surfed towards Vilemon, who was now running for his lives. Taking out his knife, which was now glowing with fiery red aura, Dinohumon focused his power into the blades on his wrists.

**_"Lizard Dance!!"_**

Images of two fiery serpentine beings emerged from the blades and swirled around him as he approached Vilemon. The serpents then roared fiercely and glided through Vilemon's body while Dinohumon made a clean swipe through Vilemon with his blades. Vilemon instantly combusted into bits of data, and Dinohumon converted back to Kotemon.

"Hey, why am I back into my Rookie form? I'm having so much fun!" Kotemon absolutely sounded miffed, but excitedly he went over to Jon who immediately embraced him.

"Well done, partner."

Wendigomon roared with laughter; while he was now all alone the other digimons had all reverted back into their Rookie forms. He still had high chances to fulfill his assigned task. However Wendigomon saw his opportunity to become stronger after Dinohumon sliced Vilemon into bits of data, and quickly retracted his hand. ToyAgumon, Bearmon and Kotemon gasped as they realized that Wendigomon was absorbing the data from Vilemon, and using the data he had emerged stronger.

"Now to devour on Renamon!" Wendigomon cackled maniacally. "A strong fighter such as the likes of her is such a waste to be left all alone."

"No!!" All the Digidestined shouted together and stood in front of Renamon. ToyAgumon, Bearmon and Kotemon quickly launched themselves to attack Wendigomon with all they had.

**_"Toy Flame!!"_**

**_"Justice Bear Fist!!"_**

**_"Thunder Gauntlet!!_**

"Fools! **_Howling Destroyer!!" _**The attack from Wendigomon blasted the three Rookie digimon away towards a nearby tree.

Max, Darien and Jon held out their Digivices but their digimons were too weak to fight again. All of them didn't have enough power and experience to sustain their digivolution level as long as they please. It was then Renamon began to stir weakly.

"Renamon, you're alive!" Kira said happily amidst the situation.

Renamon turned her face to her weakly, and smiled.

"Didn't... I... say that.... I'm a.... tough fox?" she wheezed.

"She... she's dying," Kanto said soberly.

"No! Don't die Renamon, please," Kira said, her eyes began to water again.

"Heh... I've never thought that anyone would cry over my death," Renamon said, trying to sound stronger.

"Hang in there, Renamon," Max said. "We'll get you back to Primary Village."

"You can be healed," Kanto said. "Just, don't leave us yet."

Renamon shook her head slowly. "My... injuries... are too... severe. However, if I'm... lucky enough... we'll get... to meet each other, again."

"Ohh, the fox is dying! This will make my job a lot more easier!!" Wendigomon roared with evil laughter. "I'll give your friends all the time they need to grieve you over, Renamon, before I absorb your data!"

"No! Please, don't go. Renamon, you must stay or that monster will take you away forever!" Kira said, ignoring Darien's attempt to restrain her. "Please, you can make it Renamon. Just stay strong, you're a tough fox! You said so yourself!" More drops of tears fell onto Renamon's body.

Darien suddenly felt something shaking wildly inside his pockets. Realizing that there were two more Digivices, he quickly took them out. One of the Digivice was shining with brilliant yellow lights. The lights slowly entered Renamon's body, and healed all her wounds slowly, but gradually. Renamon felt a purifying power within her, beckoning her to fight again.

"Renamon, you... you're healed!" Kira said slowly, disbelievingly.

Darien handed Kira the glowing yellow Digivice. "Little sis... I think this is yours."

Kira took the Digivice slowly, and the device responded to her touch by showering Renamon with more yellow lights. Renamon's body glowed with the same yellow aura, and instantly upon instinct, she leapt into the air.

**"Renamon Digivolve to..."**

"She's evolving?" All of the Digidestined asked at approximately the same time.

Renamon's body hunched and stood on all fours. Her thick tail was enveloped by blue inferno and grew in size before splitting into nine tails that had blue flames burning on the tips of the tails. Her body became more svelt, and her paws burnt with the same blue flames like those of her tails. Ying and yang symbols adorned themselves on each of her four thighs, and strange soft red-white tube wih round, golden ball on each of its end appeared on top of her, and tied itself around her neck, forming like some sort of accessory for her. She landed impressively on the grounds glimmering in yellow aura with small blue flames.

**"Kyubimon!!"**

"This is impossible! How can you digivolve when you're weak and dying!" Wendigomon demanded.

"I have my partner Digidestined to thank for that!" Kyubimon said boldly, and glanced slightly towards Kira. "You're my partner, Kira. Thank you for believing in me, for your will for me to go on. Without you, I don't have that strength. I am now Kyubimon, the Champion bewitching fox of Data type. My attacks are Fox Tail Inferno and Dragon Wheel which will burn any evil digimon that comes in my way."

"Me?" Kira asked, slightly amazed. "I did that to you?"

"Yes, by believing on me you have triggered the Digivice and gave me enough power to advance into my Champion form. And by doing that you have also healed my pain, and your own injury."

Kira tried to move her sprained ankle and was amazed to see that it was no longer injured.

"This is absolutely unbelievable!" Kanto said.

"Amazing. First Kotemon evolved, then Renamon evolved too!" Jon said.

Kyubimon turned back to face Wendigomon. Despite their differences in sizes, Kyubimon was confident that she would be able to win the battle. Immediately she raised her nine tails, and the blue flames on the tips of the tails glowed brighter and more intense.

**_"Fox Tail Inferno!!"_**

Nine bolts of blue firebolts shot out from the tails and scorches Wendigomon in nine different places. Both his legs were burnt, followed by his hands, three of the bolts hit his body and the final two blasts over his head, knocking his weird hat off. Wendigomon instantly fell on his knee, and not wanting to waste anymore time, Kyubimon's body began to flare with red flames. She whirled herself towards Wendigomon, forming a powerful coiling stream and an aura of a fiery dragon materialized out of nowhere, assisting her in finishing the opponet once and for all.

**_"Dragon Wheel!!"_**

Moving like a flaring wheel with top speed, Kyubimon tore up a hole in the middle of Wendigomon's body after going through it. Wendigomon's body began to crumble into data particles as Kyubimon de-digivolved back into Renamon. Renamon hoisted herself towards Wendigomon's eye level and smirked.

"Now for old times sake... **_Diamond Storm!!_**" Renamon's trademark attack pulverized Wendigomon's head completely.

Kira quickly got up and went over to Renamon. The two embraced each other happily while the other Digidestined were glad that the team of five Digidestined were completed. However, Kanto was the only one left without a partner digimon, and everyone noticed that he was slightly quiet.

Darien took the final Digivice and placed it in Kanto's hand. "Here's your Digivice, I believe."

Jon walked over to Kanto and gave him his hat, which he had dropped back at the campsite. "I found your hat," Jon said with a smile and returned it to Kanto.

"My hat! Thanks, Jon!" Kanto said with a smile, and quickly placed the hat on his strawberry blonde hair. Eyeing his Digivice, he became silent for a while.

Max walked over to the youngest Digidestined. "You'll find your digimon partner soon enough, Kanto. And welcome to the team."

Kira released Renamon from her embrace and walked towards Kanto. Without warning, she embraced the boy, who was so shocked that he just stood still. His cheeks and ears reddened slightly and he looked around, confused.

"Here's for the one who have been a hero to me," she said softly, and gave a swift kiss on one of Kanto's reddened cheek before heading back to where Renamon was. Kanto was at first taken aback by the suddenness, but then he beamed and rubbed the place where Kira had kissed him slowly. Not used to the sudden attentions from everyone, he was feeling slightly embarassed. His bashfulness earned a laughter to all the Digidestined and digimons, and all of them walked back to Primary Village to relate the exciting news to Elecmon.

* * *

As the Digidestined celebrated their reunion and victory back at the Primary Village, unbeknownst to them there was someone else watching them. Someone who wasn't even close by, but still it watched every of their action through his glowing red eyes. The effect of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes were widespread all over the island, enabling it to see through the eyes of any possessed digimon.

Sitting on the throne inside one of the twin towers on top of the highest peak of the island, a digimon was looking out through a window, chuckling slightly to himself. It was a blood-red satanic creature, with strange purple markings on his body and a pair of crimson wing which was violet-colored on the inside. This digimon had long, demonic tail protruded from his behind, a pair of purple horns sprouted on his headm and was holding a jet black trident.

"Wendigomon and his comrades had failed me. The third and fourth pairs are revealed. The legends said about _five_ pairs of Digidestined and digimons. Now there's four in this island."

It continued to watch the Digidestined through the power of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes. Scanning the whole area of Primary Village, the demon was infuriated to find that a lot of digimons there.

"One of them is bound to become his partner!" it yelled furiously, watching as Kanto played with several small baby digimons. "I must not let him find his partner! The legends will NOT be fulfilled, and the Legions of Darkness will reign the Digital World forever!!"

* * *

**Author's Note**:

This has got to be the longest chapter I've written so far for this series. I hope everyone likes the inclusion of Renamon into the team as Kira's partner. The idea of including her (as well as Bearmon and Kotemon) came from the game Digimon World 3. And on to the bad news... this will the final update for this month, as summer holidays are now here, and I'm planning to go somewhere else for a vacation. I'll update again in mid-July, hopefully. Anyone who wants to drop me a line, please e-mail me. Or better, please review.

_**Dinohumon's Attacks :**_ According to Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia, Dinohumon has two attacks. One of them is the Lizard Dance, and the other is called "Akinakesu". Assuming that the word is in Japanese, I've made a little research on my own and found several possible meanings for this term, although I had to break down the word into three syllabels - Aki, Na and Kesu.

Aki - **autumn**, fall

Na - name, reputation, **exorcism**, greens, vegetables

Kesu - to erase, to delete, to turn off power, to change into, to convert to, to transform

So based on the meanings, I've constructed an English name for it, which goes like _**"Autumn Exorcism"**_. How the attack is performed, I've yet to think about it, but it must have something to do with 'deleting' the enemy as I didn't include the translated term of 'Kesu' in the translated version of the attack name.

**Review Comments** :

_**Psychorabbit**_ - Thanks for reviewing. Yes, I guess I'll be using the evolutionary line of Kotemon that you've mentioned. SlashAngemon is a very cool digimon, although he's going to be in this story much later. Bearmon's evolution line will be similar in the Digimon World 3 game, that is Bearmon -- Grizzmon -- GrapLeomon -- Marsmon. I realized my mistake about that Counter Attack, actually I was having the idea of Gallantmon's _Shield of the Just_ attack. I'll do something in later chapters to rectify this mistake. Thanks.

_**Lavos, the Time Apocalypse**_ - An eye-opener theory, thanks for sharing it with me. I'm not aware of the theory, really, but anyway this story is meant to be the prequel for Adventures/02 series, as well as my own Vengeance series. Thanks for reviewing.

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[Anyone up for a preview of the next chapter? Now that the others each has a partner digimon, Kanto waits patiently for the time when his digimon partner comes to him. However little does he know that now, he's the prime target of the villain that has been plaguing Database Island with the Curse of the Crimson Eyes. In order to stop the ancient legends of the Digital World, this demonic villain is willing to do anything to stop the team from having their fifth pair. What will happen to Kanto? Find out next, on Legends of the Digidestined.]


	5. The Fifth Pair

**_LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED_**

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**_Chapter 05 – The Fifth Pair_**

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One way or another, he had to put a stop into this. With four out of five of the prophesized group of Digidestined found their rightful partners, the legend was about to come true.

"The five of them will be powerful," he thought. "Powerful enough to stop the Legion of Darkness from dominating the whole Digital World. I have to end it here. I have to make sure that the fifth child will never find his partner."

Gazing out of the window, the demonic digimon whose name only known to few began tracking young Kanto Shigumi's whereabouts using the Curse of the Crimson Eyes. He was doing this for three days, and to his satisfaction there was not a hint of Kanto finding a digimon as a partner. He had watched gleefully as the boy gazed longingly at his other four friends and asked almost every digimon at Primary Village whether they knew anything about his partner.

"It's time for me to take action," the demon decided. "I've merely leave them in peace these couple of days to avoid that Kanto boy from finding his digimon. The other four seemed to pop out of nowhere whenever my digimon were around."

"Lord Boogeymon," a voice called out of nowhere, outside the chamber. The voice sounded mischievous and serious at the same time. Hearing his name, the demon hissed in disdain.

"How many times do I have to tell you, never to address me in that name!" he bellowed angrily, causing the one who called out to him to shrink back behind the entrance of the chamber. "Call me Master!"

"My apologies, master," the mischievous voice said, although it sounded like he didn't really mean every word of it. Casually the owner of the voice walked in, a grin plastered on his face. It was a small, impish purple digimon with green eyes and a red bandanna tied around his neck. Behind him was another digimon, resembling a deep grayish blue fur-ball with red claws for his feet and yellow eyes, and a pair of bat-like wings. He didn't have a body; his extremities seemed to grow out from his head.

"Impmon, DemiDevimon," Boogeymon addressed the two digimon with a tone of obvious dislike for them. Impmon was standing confidently, while DemiDevimon looked cowardly and was hiding behind Impmon's back.

"Master, we bring you news," Impmon said. "More Rookie digimon have succumbed to the Curse of the Crimson Eyes, lessening the chance of the boy to find a suitable partner. We don't know about the other stages of digimon, but seeing that the other four found Rookies for partners we assume that this boy will definitely have a Rookie for a partner. So aside from the other Digidestined digimon, Elecmon the caretaker, and of course the two of us, all other Rookies on this island will be under your control by tonight."

"Very well. See to it that you never miss a single Rookie digimon out of your sight," Boogeymon said with satisfaction before averting his attention towards the cowering DemiDevimon. "You! Why are you hiding behind Impmon's back?"

DemiDevimon whimpered, and Impmon decided to speak on his behalf. "He feels intimidated by you, that's all. Don't you remember him? You've raised him for a while before asking me to train him a couple of months ago, he was only a Fresh one that time," Impmon said, he was always good with words. Despite his rebellious streak he was a good servant towards Boogeymon, and this earned him Boogeymon's confidence, although not his full trust.

Boogeymon eyed DemiDevimon carefully. "I remember you. You are from that black Poyomon I've taken in not too long ago. A rarity of the usual Poyomon I've seen before. It has been a while since I have seen you. So you are in Rookie stage now? Your species are known to be crafty and conniving, you however look different. I expect more confidence from you, be like Impmon."

DemiDevimon lowered his eyes. "Yes," he said, still afraid to look into Boogeymon's eyes the same way Impmon did.

"I have a task for the both of you," Boogeymon said, failing to hide his disgust for DemiDevimon's behavior. "I want you to lead Kanto away from his friends and take him here. By imprisoning him, not only I put a stop for the prophecy to be fulfilled but also I will reduce the number of the team. DemiDevimon, you will be in charge on convincing the boy to follow you and Impmon, you are supposed to be good at that as Impmon is good in scaring other digimon away."

"Me?" DemiDevimon asked, not quite convinced.

"Hey!!" Impmon scowled.

"Enough! Be gone!!" Boogeymon screamed, and the two digimon scurried away quickly to carry out their assigned task.

* * *

Kanto grimaced slightly as he watched Renamon, Bearmon and Kotemon training with Leomon. There was still not a sign of him getting a partner digimon, and he was getting more and more restless as days passed. He was anxious, what if he was keeping the other Digidestined from going home? They were needed to fulfill an ancient prophecy, and if Kanto didn't have a partner then the prophecy would not be fulfilled. This saddened the strawberry-blonde boy.

"Something on your mind?" a concerned voice asked, surprising Kanto from his deep thoughts. It was Max, with ToyAgumon behind him. "Can I sit down?"

"Sure," Kanto said gloomily, and shifted to make space for the three of them.

"Why didn't you join the others at the river?" Max asked as he sat beside the youngest Digidestined. "They had offered to watch over some In Training digimon who wanted to have some fun there."

Kanto shook his head but didn't say a word.

"Still bothered about not having a partner yet?" Max asked, looking at ToyAgumon who seemed to be encouraging him to go on with the conversation, which seemed rather one-sided.

Kanto remained silent, but nodded slightly.

"You know, I think it's strange that there's not a single attack since our last battle inside the dark forest. Before the four of you came here, for two weeks there had not been a single day when a possessed digimon would just pop out of nowhere and threaten the safeties of other digimon," Max said, changing the topic quickly.

"I think I'm going for a walk for a while. I'm sorry, but I really need to be alone," Kanto said slowly, quickly got up and walked away into the woods without glancing back, leaving Max and ToyAgumon bewildered by his behavior.

"What did I do?" Max wondered out loud, in both annoyance and worry. Looking at his partner, he asked, "Should we follow him?"

"He said he wanted to be alone," ToyAgumon told him. "Maybe it's hard for him, not having a partner digimon."

"Yeah, I guess so," Max agreed.

Kanto walked as fast as he could to wherever his legs would take him, without knowing exactly where he was going. He felt slightly guilty of leaving Max and ToyAgumon just like that; they were only trying to help him. Now that he was alone, he was remorseful. However, the sights of the exotic plants around him had caught his attention.

"It's beautiful," he whispered, and looked into his binoculars for a closer look to everything around him.

Never did he know that he was being watched closely.

* * *

"This is perfect DemiDevimon, the kid is all by himself. The master wants him gone, why don't we do the honor and get rid of him by ourselves?" Impmon asked gleefully, watching Kanto up from a tree branch a few meters away from the boy.

"How… how are we going to do that?" DemiDevimon asked, not taking his eyes off Kanto. He shifted nervously onto the tree branch he was sitting on, struggling to maintain balance.

"Simple, silly! We're near the underground cavern where Dokugumon lives. Everyone knows that he has a short temper, and with him being controlled by the Curse of the Crimson Eyes, we can easily finish off that boy. Dokugumon will do all the work for us," Impmon said matter-of-factly. "Without a partner, that Kanto boy won't last even an hour inside Dokugumon's cave."

"Er… what should I do?" DemiDevimon wondered.

"Argh. You're an amateur, I forgot about that! Now, I think you have that neat technique called the Evil Whisper, right? Persuade Kanto to walk into those thick bushes between the two rocks, and he'll slid into the lair of Dokugumon!" Impmon said impatiently.

For the next one hour, Kanto had been sitting under a tree and was sketching inside his sketchbook the scenery around him. He was enjoying himself, and for a while he had forgotten about the thing that had been bugging him.

_'Get up.'_

Kanto's head shot up quickly. 'Someone else's around here,' he thought. Looking around, he saw no one. He was completely alone. 'That's weird, I swear I heard someone whispering, telling me to get up,' he mused, confused.

_'Come.'_

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Kanto called out. "I heard you." Feeling nervous, he scanned his surroundings quickly and saw a twig lying on the grounds. Quickly he picked the twig, planning to use it to defend himself. The twig was pretty sharp on one end, and Kanto nearly cut himself while picking it up.

_'Come.'_

"Come where?" Kanto wondered. Strangely, he was obeying the whisper, although against his will. Something was clouding his judgment, telling him from the inside of his minds that he should be obeying the whisper.

_'Don't you want to find your partner digimon?'_

"What? Yes, why of course I wanted to," Kanto said. "Do you know where I can find him?"

_'I do, but only if you follow my orders.'_

"I'll do anything," Kanto said. "Please take me to my partner."

_'Then come.'_

* * *

"Leomon, we need to talk," Max said.

Leomon nodded over his shoulder, Max was standing behind him. "Class is dismissed for today," he said, addressing the three Rookie digimon. "I want the three of you to practice the moves I've taught you. If you have any trouble I trust Renamon will be able to assist you." Kotemon and Bearmon were excited, and Renamon nodded respectfully before ushering the two smaller Rookies away, leaving Leomon, Max and ToyAgumon.

Faint yellow lights flickered around Leomon, and he de-digivolved back into Elecmon. "What seems to be the matter, Max?"

Max knelt before Elecmon as it would be easier for him to talk to the red purple-striped rodent digimon. "I'm worried about Kanto. He just took off into the woods on his own."

Elecmon nodded. "He's still affected by the fact that he hasn't find a partner digimon."

"Tell me about it," Max sighed. "Just look at how he's been asking around the digimon here yesterday, and the day before."

"I'm afraid it isn't a good idea for Kanto to be wandering on his own inside the woods, without supervision of any of you," Elecmon told Max. "The evil Legion of Darkness on this island is definitely targeting him in order to make sure that the prophecy of the Digidestined will never be fulfilled."

Max was shocked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Don't you get it, Max? There are five beings partnered with digimon said in the prophecy. And now, there are four of you with partner digimon. Kanto is the only one who is partner-less."

"Oh no!" Max gasped. "I have to call on the others and look for him."

* * *

"Stop pushing me!"

"Then move aside, DemiDevimon. I wanna get a good view of this!" Impmon barked to his friend. DemiDevimon was convincing Kanto to follow his orders, and led him towards the hidden entrance to the lair of Dokugumon underground. Kanto seemed to be in a mild trance, blindly obeying DemiDevimon's whispers.

"He's getting nearer," DemiDevimon noted. "Should I stop? I really don't want him to fall, Impmon. He might get hurt. Maybe it's better if we just take him to the master."

Impmon gave a cynical look to his friend. "Oh, and I suppose the master won't lay a finger on the boy? Get real DemiDevimon, the master won't be risking anything by letting the boy to even live. He's just as good as gone."

"But…" DemiDevimon protested.

"No buts, you make him walk into the bushes or I have to do that for you. Mind you, it won't be nice if I were the one who's doing the work."

"All right then, I'll do it," DemiDevimon said in defeat. He really didn't want to see the boy got hurt, and unknown to him his hesitations broke the effects of his technique. Kanto snapped back to reality, seemingly confused of how he'd gotten at the place. He was suddenly aware that he was at the deeper parts of the woods, and Kanto was standing very near the entrance of Dokugumon's lair.

"Oh now you've done it!" Impmon yelled and pushed DemiDevimon out from their hiding place, which happened to be behind the bush that was covering the hidden entrance. DemiDevimon stumbled out, and immediately caught Kanto's eye.

"Who are you?" he asked with genuine interest, not the slightest aware that DemiDevimon was the reason he'd been there in the first place.

"Go away!" DemiDevimon said, sounding desperate. "Go…"

He was interrupted when a small fireball was launched towards Kanto's feet, with someone crying out, "Bada Boom!!"

"Impmon!" DemiDevimon yelled.

"Drats!" Impmon cried back, and came out from his hiding place. "Missed!"

Kanto immediately defended himself with the twig he had picked up earlier. "Are you enemies or friends?" he asked, swatting the twig blindly towards the two digimon. Studying their eyes, Kanto felt a bit of relief seeing that they were not glowing red, meaning that they were not under the possession of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes.

"Attack him!" Impmon yelled, taking advantage of Kanto's unawareness. He jumped towards Kanto's head and snatched away the boy's hat. "Come and get it! Catch me if you can!" he dared.

"Hey, give it back!" Kanto screamed, and chased after Impmon who was running towards the hidden entrance.

DemiDevimon saw this, and without thinking he quickly jumped into Kanto's way. However Kanto was angered, and seeing DemiDevimon blocking his way he used the twig he was carrying to hit the Rookie digimon. Surprisingly the blow was rather hard and DemiDevimon was sent flying away.

"Ouch!!" DemiDevimon cried in pain, the twig cut one of his legs.

Impmon didn't see that coming, and he was angry as well seeing his friend got hurt by a mere boy. "Oh you brat! He didn't do anything, why'd you hit him? Take this! Bada Boom!!" Impmon sent more fireballs, which were actually pretty harmless, towards Kanto. The boy quickly jumped away to avoid himself being scorched.

"This is gonna scar for the rest of my life!" DemiDevimon moaned softly.

"Oh quit whining you big baby and come here!" Impmon growled and spun around. Unfortunately he wasn't aware that he was standing just too close to the bush, and by taking a step further Impmon found himself sliding into the hidden entrance.

"Hey! Help!!"

Kanto stopped dead on his tracks. "Hey, where'd you go! Give me back my hat!"

"I'm down here you stupid kid! You have to come and get me out of here if you want your silly hat back! I ain't giving it back unless you do so!" Impmon screamed, sounding extremely annoyed.

Kanto carefully walked closer towards the bush, and saw the entrance. Peering down, he however couldn't see Impmon anywhere.

"You're not in any position to make any deals, whatever-you-are!" Kanto called down.

DemiDevimon flew towards Kanto and looked down. "Impmon, are you hurt?"

"I will be if you don't get me out!" Impmon yelled, however his voice didn't sound as annoying and brave as before. Both Kanto and DemiDevimon noticed the frightened tone of his voice, and suddenly his screams amplified before it became muffled, and then there was only silence.

"What'd we do?" Kanto asked, suddenly not feeling angry towards Impmon anymore.

"We have to save him," DemiDevimon said. "But how?"

"There's one way to find out," Kanto said slowly but with determination. "We'll have to go down and save him."

DemiDevimon looked extremely shocked. "Kid, you don't know what's down there! The cave is the home of Dokugumon, a very vicious digimon. Neither of us would stand a chance against him."

"Are you saying that you're backing out? You're not going to even try save your friend… I assume he's your friend?" Kanto asked.

"No! I'm not backing out! Impmon's my only friend and I'll do anything to save him!"

Kanto peered closer towards the opening, trying to estimate how deep was the cave. Judging by the fact that he couldn't see Impmon he assumed that the cave was extremely deep. Using his binoculars would not be a use as well. Kanto then turned back, but his foot slipped onto the sandy edges of the opening, and he fell into the cave as well.

DemiDevimon was alarmed. First Impmon, then Kanto. "Can't this day be any more wrong?" he said in despair, and decided to fly into the cave to get to his friend and the boy they were assigned to catch earlier. His foot was still in pain from the stabbing Kanto gave him earlier, but he didn't blame the boy the slightest. Rather, it was Impmon who made the boy felt that he was in danger.

Some lights that managed to penetrate the thick walls of the cave lighted the underground cave. DemiDevimon saw that there were spider webs hanging everywhere. There were quite a number of them, which simply meant that there was more than one Dokugumon around. Looking around, he saw that both Impmon and Kanto were on a large spider web, which was spread on one of the wall. Only their heads were visible, the webs cocooned their bodies as well. There was no way that they could escape.

"Are you two all right?" DemiDevimon called out.

"Tho..those Dokugumon! There are quite a number of them! We're definitely goners!!" Impmon wailed.

"Shh! Do you want them to hear us?" DemiDevimon whispered.

Impmon rolled his eyes. "Oh that's very cautious of you, who'd you think cocooned us in the first place?" he asked sarcastically.

"I don't see them anywhere," DemiDevimon said.

"They left just as sudden as they appear," Kanto said, trembling. "Oh I shouldn't have left Primary Village if I know this is happening!"

"I'll try to get you out of those cocoons," DemiDevimon said, and used his claws to try tearing the cocoons from Kanto and Impmon's bodies. However, out of nowhere somebody spat spider webs towards DemiDevimon. The webs enveloped him whole, trapping him completely.

"Now, we're goners!" Impmon cried.

* * *

"So you saw him heading that way?" ToyAgumon asked a Kiwimon who was passing by.

"Yes. A boy, about their ages," the kiwi-like digimon said, making a gesture with her beak towards Jon and Kira. "He wore a weird hat, and have strange reddish-yellowish hair…"

"That's definitely Kanto," Darien said. The four Digidestined and digimon thanked the Kiwimon and made their way towards where the Kiwimon had claimed she saw Kanto. Earlier, it was only Max and ToyAgumon who set on to search for Kanto, but the other digimon tagged along as well. On their way they met Darien, Jon and Kira, and they agreed to look for Kanto. Eventually they were led to the place where Kanto encountered Impmon and DemiDevimon earlier.

"Kanto was definitely here not too long ago," Renamon said, using her sharp sense of smell. "And also two digimon, but I can't really say who they are. Their scents led straight towards the bush over there before they disappear."

"Oh my!" Kotemon cried. "I suddenly remembered something! This is the hidden entrance to the lair of a HORDE of Dokugumon!"

"What's a Dokugumon?" Jon asked, scratching his head.

"Dokugumon is a Champion level, spider digimon," Renamon replied.

Darien's face suddenly fell. "Did you say… spiders?"

Renamon nodded. "Yes. What is the matter? You don't look too good."

"Darien's… umph!!" Kira began to say but Darien quickly covered her mouth.

"I hate spiders," he continued on behalf of his younger sister, whom he gave a glare. Kira scowled slightly and exchanged a knowing look with Jon.

"Am I missing something here?" Max asked. "Darien?"

Darien sighed. "Okay, okay! If you all must know… I'm an Arachnophobic! Ask Jon what does it mean, I don't want to explain."

"An Arachnophobic is a person who has arachnophobia, which is a fear towards spiders," Jon explained to Max and the curious digimon.

"Oh… don't worry about it Darien. I'm not afraid of spiders, and I'll definitely crush any who comes near you!" Bearmon declared.

"Sure, whatever you say," Darien said glumly, his cheeks reddened.

"Back to Dokugumon… what are we going to do?" Max asked, deliberately changing the subject back. "I don't think we should barge in just like that. We need a plan."

"We aren't going to use this entrance. Why? Because there is a proper entrance elsewhere. Do you really think a Dokugumon would fit this entrance?" Bearmon said. "Kotemon and I had found another entrance during one of our adventures not too long ago."

"And we better go there in our Champion forms," Kotemon added.

The four Digidestined quickly took out their Digivices, which glowed with intense blue, red, yellow and green lights.

_"ToyAgumon Digivolve to… Veedramon!!"_

_"Bearmon Digivolve to… Grizzmon!!"_

_"Renamon Digivolve to… Kyubimon!!"_

_"Kotemon Digivolve to… Dinohumon!!"_

* * *

"Soon, they will come out. All of them. And they are all under the curse's power. They will destroy us. I just know it," Impmon muttered to himself, lost of all confidence and hope. Kanto merely kept silence and DemiDevimon wasn't able to speak as he was entirely covered by the spider webs.

True enough, one Dokugumon appeared. Then another one came. Followed by another, and another, and yet another. They were appearing from all over the underground chamber. There must be a kingdom of Dokugumon under the lands of the island. And worse, all of them had glowing crimson eyes.

Kanto counted the total of Dokugumon silently inside his mind. "There are definitely more than ten," he whispered. "Eleven, or twelve, or maybe thirteen."

The Dokugumon were all gathering beneath the web that had the three of them on. Impmon and Kanto were wondering of what they were doing, or rather what were they waiting for; they had the chance to finish them there and then. Strangely they left the three of them alone, they themselves were silent as statues. Not a single movement was seen. However Kanto and Impmon didn't need to wait to long for an answer as it had become apparent for them.

A strong putrid smell came from above, and before either Kanto or Impmon managed to look up strange liquid dropped onto their faces. Kanto suspected that the liquid was actually saliva, making Impmon growl angrily of having the saliva on his face.

"No bug-brain is gonna eat me!" Impmon yelled.

Looking up, they saw a bigger Dokugumon hanging on the spider web. Obviously this one was the leader, and instead of the red coloring on the body this Dokugumon had green ones. The eyes were gleaming crimson.

Impmon tried to wriggle himself free but to no avail, the web around him was strong. DemiDevimon was still, not a movement was seen while Kanto didn't even bother to struggle. Seeing Impmon was unsuccessful, he knew that there was no way they could free themselves from the cocoon.

"How nice of the three of you to join us. You will make a fine feast!" the green Dokugumon boomed, baring his fangs. For a spider he had the fangs that rivaled those of any canine creatures.

Impmon scowled angrily. "You wouldn't dare eat us! DemiDevimon and I were servants of Lord Boogeymon himself! You don't want to make HIM angry by eating us! However you can eat this kid, Lord Boogeymon doesn't want him around."

The green Dokugumon let out a sinister laugh. "Do you think I can be intimidated that easily? No one can easily come into our lair and go as they please. I may not eat you or the other digimon, but I will not deny my loyal servants any free data for them to devour. It has been long since we have a good meal."

Impmon's face paled. "You wouldn't dare invoke the master's wrath!"

"Try me," the green Dokugumon said. "I'm sure he has more important thing to do than entertaining two bumbling servants such as the likes of you two. He will definitely not miss the two of you. My servants however, will definitely welcome you."

Suddenly, an explosion came from the farthest corner of the cave. Lights rushed in immediately from the opening caused by the explosion, causing the Dokugumon to scatter about, trying to hide themselves in the shadows. Four digimon stepped into the opening, and each digimon carried a human.

"Kanto!!" one of them yelled. "Are you in here?"

Kanto's face lit up instantly, recognizing the voice as Max's. Then, he heard the others' voices calling out his name.

"I'm here!!" he yelled back as loudly as he could muster. "I'm trapped!"

Max, who was on top of Veedramon, shouted back, "Hang in there, Kanto!"

Grizzmon looked at Darien, whose face was white as if he'd seen a ghost. "Are you okay with this, Darien?" he asked, concerned of his partner's fear.

Darien gulped and wiped some sweat that was beginning to form on his forehead. "Yeah, yeah… I'm okay, I guess."

Kyubimon, with Kira riding her, landed beside Veedramon. "Seems like we have a huge crowd to take care of. All of them are possessed by the curse!"

"So we have no choice but to delete all of them! They've got Kanto with them," Dinohumon said as he landed at Veedramon's other side. Then he put Jon, whom he held close to his body earlier, on the floor carefully.

"I don't see Kanto anywhere," Jon said, scanning the area. He took out his glasses from the chest pocket of his shirt and wore them.

"Up there!" Max said, pointing towards a large spider web. He could barely make out Kanto's head amidst the webs. "He's trapped, and… oh no!!"

"What?" Kira asked and looked straight towards where Max was pointing, and screamed. "That's Dokugumon?" she said fearfully.

Kyubimon, with her sharp senses, realized that aside from the large green Dokugumon there was a number of smaller Dokugumon around the cave. For now, they were hiding from them but they were in danger of being outnumbered.

"We're outnumbered," Kyubimon stated, and informed the others of what she'd sensed. "The green Dokugumon there was the leader, there are more of smaller ones around here. Be careful."

"Great… just great," Darien said weakly. "A cave full of spiders."

Grizzmon shook his head and walked near the other three digimon. "So what do we do now?" he asked.

The green Dokugumon was annoyed of being interrupted by the intrusion. Quickly he used the sharp nails on his feet to cut down the spider web that he used to hang in mid-air, and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Raising his snout, the green Dokugumon shot out a ray of spider webs towards the Digidestined and their digimon.

"Look out!" Veedramon cried, and jumped out of the way. The others barely made it but all of them were luckily unscathed. The spider web however, shot past them and plastered itself on the opening, covering most of the light from entering the cave.

With only the faintest of the lights, all the Dokugumon came out and hissed menacingly. There were fifteen of them, all with eyes that were glowing red.

"Food…" all of them hissed. "Food…"

"I don't like the sound of this," Jon said.

"Spread out," Max gave out the command as he got down from Veedramon. "Darien, Kira and Jon, come with me. Your digimon will fight better without you riding them. We have to hide ourselves."

"All right," Darien said, slightly trembling but obviously relieved. "I don't want to get close to those spiders anyway." He composed himself, trying his best not to feel afraid. However, phobias weren't actually easy to handle.

Kira was concerned. "We need one of the digimon to protect us," she said. "What if one of those spider digimon got close to us?"

"I'll stay," Dinohumon offered, raising his blades and stood in defensive mode. "No Dokugumon is going past me without a good fight!"

"Very well," Veedramon decided, nodding his head slightly. "Kyubimon, Grizzmon, we'll team up and take care of the Dokugumon. One of us has to get up there and save Kanto. In my opinion, Kyubimon should be one doing this. Have you brush up your teleportation ability, Kyubimon?" Veedramon asked.

"As Renamon, I can do so. However I haven't test out the ability as Kyubimon yet," Kyubimon answered. "But I'm willing to risk it, somehow I think it's the only way. None of us can fly."

"That's true," Veedramon agreed. "Grizzmon and I will try to make way for you to jump up there."

"All right," Grizzmon said, agreeing to Veedramon's plan.

"Be careful, you guys," Max said.

As Veedramon, Grizzmon and Kyubimon moved forward towards the spider web holding Kanto, five Dokugumon stepped into their way and hissed. Their expressions were zombie-like, they were totally under the curse's control. Three of them quickly proceeded by attacking the destined digimon by shooting spider webs from their snouts.

Veedramon stomped forward, evading the webs easily and punched one of the Dokugumon away forcefully. The Dokugumon was no match for Veedramon's powerful Hammer Punch and was quick to be deleted.

"Awesome!" Max commented. "Crushed by one blow!"

Grizzmon energized the crescent mark on his forehead, and launched the Crescent Dawn attack towards the nearest Dokugumon. The laser formed from his eyes and the mark collided with the spider web shot by the Dokugumon, causing the web to be burnt by the heat of Grizzmon's laser. Shooting through the web, the laser made it by zooming into the Dokugumon's eyes and through its head. Instantly, the spider digimon was deleted.

"Yeah, you teach them, Grizzmon!!" Darien yelled happily.

Kyubimon didn't waste time and quickly launched her Fox Tail Inferno attack. The attack burnt the webs that nearly envelop her figure, and hit the Dokugumon that was attacking her. Needless to say the attack destroyed the Dokugumon.

"Keep it up, Kyubimon!" Kira said, waving her hand to her partner.

Suddenly, roars were heard from the shadows. Three Dokugumon had managed to sneak their way past the three destined digimon, and were now standing close to the Digidestined. They shot the webs quickly towards the four Digidestined and Dinohumon, cocooning them with the webs. Max, Darien, Jon and Kira stumbled onto the floor, on top of each other while Dinohumon struggled to remain standing.

"Let us go!" Dinohumon cried, trying his hardest to break free. Soft as it appeared, the web cocoon however was clasping harder to his body as Dinohumon struggled. "It didn't work! The cocoon's stronger than it appears!"

"Oh no! This…this isn't happening!" Darien moaned, he was the only one who wasn't attempting the slightest to break free. "Spiders… spiders everywhere!"

Max, who was wriggling on top of Darien, sighed as he tried to get up. However, Kira and Jon both were on him, making it hard for Max to get up. The two younger children also had a hard time to get up.

The three Dokugumon approached the Digidestined slowly, causing Darien to begin shaking violently. Strong as he was, his phobia was overpowering him. One of the Dokugumon pulled Jon and Kira away with its legs, the second Dokugumon then head-butted Max away while the third one crept closer to observe Darien.

"This one is scared," the Dokugumon stated. "He'll make an excellent meal. Fear is one thing that we really like," he said sinisterly.

"No… don't! Please don't!" Darien pleaded. "No…"

"No!! Darien!" Kira yelled, wriggling helplessly to break away from the Dokugumon that was pulling her away.

"Dinohumon, do something!!" Jon cried. "Anything!"

Dinohumon's heart skipped a beat as he watched Darien being pulled away by a Dokugumon. Feeling helpless, Dinohumon felt to his knees and felt ashamed for not being able to help the kids. Suddenly, his eyes shone brightly with yellow lights and Dinohumon felt power surging within his body. His body then proceeded by glowing with the same yellow lights that were shining in his eyes, and the cocoon on his body exploded!

"Move away from them!" Dinohumon barked angrily towards the Dokugumon. Quickly, one of the Dokugumon let go of Jon and Kira. However, the Dokugumon that was threathening Max didn't feel intimidated at all by Dinohumon's sudden outburst.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Dinohumon said slowly and picked up his large blade, which was lying on the floor when he was enveloped with the webs. Raising the blade in front of his eyes, a strange aura depicting one of the characters of the Digital World alphabets materialized in front of Dinohumon. Winds came from out of nowhere and were blowing forcefully towards the three Dokugumon. Images of trees and bushes during the fall season formed around Dinohumon, the leaves seemed ready to wilt.

**_"Autumn Exorcism!!"_** Dinohumon yelled, slashing his blade forward. In a blink of the eye all the leaves wilted at the same time and shimmered with brown, yellow and orange lights. They instantly became projectiles of pure energy, and swirled around the three Dokugumon. The strange aura glowing in front of Dinohumon then shone brightly, and the leaves then pierced into the three Dokugumon from all directions. The Digidestined were magically unharmed by the process, but the three Dokugumon weren't that lucky as they all exploded into millions bits of data. The lights and the images then died away and the Digidestined found themselves freed from the cocoons.

Dinohumon knelt onto the grounds again, obviously weakened from the attack. However he still retained his Champion form, unlike the last battle when he instantly de-digivolved back to Kotemon after delivering his other signature attack.

"That was incredible!!" Jon said happily, quickly running towards his partner. They were nearly at the same eye-level with Dinohumon on his knees and Jon standing on his foot.

Darien slowly got up with Kira helping him. "Dinohumon," he began, both cheeks flushed. "I wanna thank you for saving me."

Dinohumon nodded with a smile. "Think nothing of it."

Unable to help their human partners earlier, Veedramon, Grizzmon and Kyubimon found their spirits lifted to new heights when they saw Dinohumon's incredible display of attack. Five Dokugumon were already wiped out, meaning that there were only ten more Dokugumon around, plus the large green Dokugumon.

"Vee Nova Blast!!" Veedramon growled, and blasted away another Dokugumon that was attempting to shoot him with its webs. He then found himself surrounded by another two of them. Growling angrily, he stomped towards them and delivered his Hammer Punch attack to one of them. Once again, the attack did the trick and one of them was deleted successfully. The other one was undaunted, and attacked Veedramon with its webs. Veedramon took a deep breath and fired his Vee Breath Arrow attack from his mouth, deleting the Dokugumon. Three more Dokugumon were gone.

Kyubimon found herself cornered by four Dokugumon with no way of escaping. Angrily she howled and enveloped herself with ice-blue flames. Transforming into a fiery dragon she snaked her way past two Dokugumon, deleting them in the process. Turning back into her solid Kyubimon form, she then darted towards one of the Dokugumon and tackled it. Another Dokugumon tried to knock her from its' comrade by shooting spider webs, but Kyubimon simply swatted the web away with her tail. Using her Dragon Wheel attack again, she burnt the Dokugumon under her while transforming and deleted the other one by gliding through it. By deleting four Dokugumon, Kyubimon felt weaker than ever but she still retained her Champion form.

Grizzmon was having a tougher time dealing with the remaining three Dokugumon (minus the green one). His large form made it hard for him to move about as quickly as Kyubimon or Veedramon. Besides the Dokugumon he was fighting with were much more aggressive; they took turns piercing him with their sharp claws. Knowing that it was hard to launch his laser attack again, Grizzmon had earlier decided that it was best for him to gather the energy from the blows to launch a counter attack. Thus, he took all the blows and when his body began to glow with red aura Grizzmon gained more energy and became quicker. He pinned one of the Dokugumon onto the grounds, crushing it with his raw power. Focusing the energy he had into his eyes, Grizzmon's crescent mark glowed even brighter than it had before. Launching the Crescent Dawn attack again, Grizzmon used a different tactic with this attack. Instead of shooting laser from his eyes, Grizzmon tried to use the crescent as a boomerang. As the result, the boomerang swirled with remarkable speed and pierced straight into one of the Dokugumon's head before doing so to the other.

'Incredible,' Impmon thought silently, watching the whole ordeal with great awe. 'No wonder the master feels threatened. The four of them can do this much damage, I hate to think if there are FIVE of them.'

Kanto felt sorrow all over again, watching his friends' partners fighting all the Dokugumon. He was reminded that he was without a partner, and began to think that he was useless again. So gloomy he was feeling, that he didn't even bother to look up when Kyubimon jumped onto the web.

"Kanto," Kyubimon said, examining the other two digimon that were with him with suspicious eyes. "We've been looking for you. I'll get you out of the web." Lighting up the tip of one of her nine tails, Kyubimon then aimed the blue fire carefully towards Kanto's body. Kanto closed his eyes and suddenly he felt warm all over. The fire had freed him from the cocoon without harming him.

"What about us?" Impmon asked hopefully, as Kyubimon began to turn away.

Kanto considered Impmon's plea for a moment. "Your friend deserves to be saved, he'd risked his life by coming all the way down here to find you and me." Nodding towards Kyubimon, Kanto asked her to free DemiDevimon as well. Kyubimon said nothing and did as she was requested. Then Kanto told her to free Impmon as well.

"Quickly you three, on my back," Kyubimon ordered. "I'm going to teleport down from here." Kanto, Impmon and DemiDevimon obeyed the fox and climbed onto her. Then Kyubimon summoned her energy and teleported them down back onto the cave floor. However when they appeared again, Kyubimon had already de-digivolved back into Renamon. She'd already lost a lot of energy in the battle and had used the remaining of what was left to teleport the four of them.

"Thanks, Renamon," Kanto said, feeling sorry for the fox digimon. "If it wasn't for me you won't have to go through all this trouble."

Renamon smiled before getting back up on her feet. While she was too weak to maintain her Champion form, she was still quite all right as a Rookie digimon.

"The fight was exhilarating," Renamon merely said. "Don't apologize to me, we digimon don't really mind fighting bad digimon if we're on the winning side, but I think you owe your human friends an apology for running off like this."

Impmon stepped forward, followed by DemiDevimon who was nudging him from behind.

"We're deeply thankful for you," DemiDevimon began but Impmon quickly covered his mouth. Scowling, Impmon said.

"What are you doing? Thanking the enemies!" he reprimanded DemiDevimon.

DemiDevimon swiped Impmon's hands away with his wings. "They saved us, Impmon," he protested.

"The master ain't gonna like this," Impmon said.

"We still owe them our lives. If it wasn't for… Renamon, we're still up there trapped! And I came down here to get to you before ending up trapped as well. She saved me, I think at least I should thank her. If you're not going to thank her, I'll do it for the both of us!"

"Oh no you don't! We're bad guys! Bad guys DON'T thank anybody!" Impmon covered DemiDevimon's mouth again. "What's the matter with you? The master already saw that you're different, don't make him suspect that you… siding with them!"

"I am not…" DemiDevimon said hotly before he became silent.

"You know what, your thanks are not necessary," Renamon said to break off the arguments, and looked towards Kanto. "Take care now, I'm going to switch with Dinohumon. He looks in better shape than I do." She then disappeared from the three of them.

In the meantime, Veedramon and Grizzmon were battling the remaining Dokugumon, which was the green, largest one of them. As both of them were weakening, they were no match against the leader of the Dokugumon.

"Let's combine our power! Vee Nova Blast!!" Veedramon cried.

"Crescent Dawn!!" Grizzmon followed up.

Dinohumon leapt down suddenly and joined them. "Autumn Exorcism!!"

The three attacks combined together and collided with Dokugumon, deliberately sending Dokugumon a few feet behind. Scorched at many places, Dokugumon however survived the blows. Grizzmon and Dinohumon however de-digivolved back to Bearmon and Kotemon, both ran out of energy.

"Now it looks like you and me," Dokugumon said menacingly but then he turned around, detecting movements from behind. Immediately he saw Kanto, Impmon and DemiDevimon trying to sneak away. Bellowing angrily, he spitted out poisonous threads towards the three of them.

"Kanto, look out!!" Veedramon shouted.

Impmon and DemiDevimon saw that they were attacked, and instinctively fired back in hope to counter the attack.

"Bada Boom!!"

"Demi Dart!!"

Then, the most unexpected thing happened.

Kanto suddenly felt his Digivice, which was clipped on his vest securely, shook violently. Two rays of violet lights shot out from the Digivice and headed towards the fireball and the dart fired by Impmon and DemiDevimon. Enveloping both attacks with violet lights, both attacks then combined and formed a shining violet arrow.

"What's happening?" Kanto wondered out loud, clutching his Digivice. "Can it be..?"

The arrow launched itself with full speed and destroyed Dokugumon's attack before it maimed the large spider digimon on the head. Crackling with electricity, the arrow then electrocuted Dokugumon and destroyed it with a deafening explosion.

"Woah…" Impmon said with mouth opened wide. "I DON'T believe it!"

DemiDevimon couldn't believe it either. Their attacks, which were done in haste, had destroyed a powerful Champion digimon.

All of the Digidestined and their partners simply couldn't believe what they had just seen as well. They saw Kanto's Digivice reacting with not one, but TWO digimon! That, and the fact that the Digivice somehow amplified the Rookies' attacks to successfully delete a full-grown Champion digimon.

But none of that could match with what Kanto was feeling. With his Digivice reacting to Impmon and DemiDevimon, Kanto was sure that he'd finally found his partner. "Make it partners! I can't believe that you guys are my partners!" he shouted happily towards Impmon and DemiDevimon.

"Hey just wait a freakin' minute! I ain't nobody's partner, and so is he!" Impmon said with a scowl, and pulled DemiDevimon's wings towards him.

"But…" DemiDevimon protested.

"It is just NOT possible!" Impmon shouted. "No! No! NO! With a capital 'N'! No way!"

Kanto's brightened expression faltered.

"Why?" he whispered softly. "My Digivice reacted to the both of you. Look!" He pointed towards his Digivice, which was still glowing with faint purple lights.

"Sorry kid! We're the bad guys, we serve the one who wants you imprisoned or killed. C'mon DemiDevimon, let's go!"

Impmon walked off angrily, but DemiDevimon didn't move. Kanto thought that there was a sign of acceptance by the way DemiDevimon looked at him.

"I said, come on!!" Impmon yelled, and pulled DemiDevimon angrily. Grabbing DemiDevimon by the feet, Impmon ordered him to fly both of them up towards the opening where they'd stumbled into earlier, which apparently was at the very top of the cave, on the roof.

Kanto watched the two of them disappearing from his sight with a heavy sigh. Now that he had two partner digimon instead of one, he was happier than ever. Despite Impmon's refusal to accept him, the look on DemiDevimon's face gave him hope. The hope that someday, they would accept him as their human partner. Somehow deep down, Kanto knew that the time would come soon. With that, Kanto smiled the first smile he had after two days and walked back to his friends.

* * *

**Kayette** - Hi there. Thanks for reviewing, I hope you like this chapter.

**DTV** – Thanks for the review. In this chapter and for the next chapters to come, I've changed my way of depicting plural forms of digimon, thanks for the advice. Your idea for male DD/female digimon pairing is very interesting, and I've used it already in Vengeance (Chaos Specter – Catrina pairing) although they aren't exactly Digidestined – digimon pairing. And about the Transdigivolution… it simply coined from the term Transform and Digivolve.

**Psychorabbit** – Thanks for the suggestion and the review. Firstly I retained my translated name of Dinohumon's second attack because I've already stated it in the previous chapter, but I did make it a mystical attack. And for the character building up, thanks for the idea.


	6. Obstacles

**_LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED_**

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**_Chapter 06 – Obstacles_**

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Impmon was in denial. Despite not wanting to believe that he and Demidevimon, of all digimon on Database Island, were partnered with the fifth Digidestined, he knew that it was no use trying to ignore it. The fact that Kanto's Digivice reacted with their attacks proved to him that they were part of the Digidestined, a group whom he had earlier believed to be a mere stuff of legend. All his life, he had served Boogeymon with utmost loyalty and had earned his master's trust. Now, a part of him wanted to return to the twin towers where Boogeymon resided. In fact, it was the greater part of him that wanted to go back to where he came from. However, a small part of him, lying deep in his heart, told him that he didn't actually belong there. He was meant for greater cause, and this was what troubling him the most.

"Whatever am I going to do?" Impmon whispered to himself. His green eyes drooped slightly as he sighed, before quickening his pace.

Demidevimon, who was tailing Impmon silently from behind quickly flew over to his friend. He didn't have to ask about what was upsetting Impmon; his friend had never looked this bothered up all the time he had known him, and the two of them had known each other for quite a long time. Demidevimon knew that Impmon was thinking about what had happened in Dokugumon's lair earlier. Unlike Impmon however, Demidevimon was actually glad that he was destined to be a part of the Digidestined. He wasn't actually happy serving Boogeymon; Demidevimon wasn't as strong and confident as Impmon, and Boogeymon never considered him as somebody important.

"Impmon…" he began, causing the imp digimon to look up. Demidevimon studied the large eyes that were staring into his yellow ones closely, and saw something that he would have never believed. A look of fear was never evident in Impmon's eyes. But that was what Demidevimon saw in his friend's eyes. "You're thinking about it, don't you?"

"Stop bringing up that subject!" Impmon snapped angrily and walked off. Demidevimon quickly pursued his friend, wanting to persuade him to think about the possibility of becoming the partners of a Digidestined.

"You know that you can't ignore it for long, Impmon," Demidevimon said matter-of-factly, which surprised Impmon a little. Demidevimon had never sounded this earnest and confident at the same time; those usually came from him.

"You look happy," Impmon said and stopped walking. "Why don't you turn back and go to that boy? It's what you want, isn't it? Go ahead and betray our master, while I am going back to serve him."

"We're in this together, remember?" Demidevimon reminded him, hovering closely to Impmon's eye level. "Kanto's Digivice responded to the both of us. Not only me, and not only you, but the _both_ of us."

"This is crazy," Impmon huffed, crossing his arms on his body. "One minute I am the bad guy, and now I'm supposed to be a good guy?"

"If you go back, Impmon, you will only face your deletion. Master…no, Boogeymon, I will no longer call him my master, he will certainly know about this by now. He can observe everything that is going on on this island through any digimon he'd possessed. Even though you are on his good side, he will never take any chances by sparing your life, because like it or not Kanto's Digivice reacted to you as well. He'll be glad to kill me off, that's for sure, because I am…was, his bumbling servant," Demidevimon said strongly. "But that's not the main reason I want to join Kanto," he added quickly.

"Hah! He won't kill you, not as long as I'm around."

"I don't really think that is too difficult for Boogeymon to handle. You won't have to stop him; he would delete you as well just to stop the legends from coming true," said Demidevimon darkly.

Impmon's face suddenly looked alarmed, the look of fear in his eyes intensified. He had never thought of that possibility. What Demidevimon had said made sense. Impmon knew himself that Boogeymon would stop at nothing to make sure that Kanto would never be joined with his partners. Instantly he realized that both of them were in grave danger. Their lives were at stake. Impmon knew that Demidevimon would never leave his side no matter how much he really wanted to join Kanto. Even though Impmon still didn't like the idea of being a part of the Digidestined, he cared for Demidevimon too much to let him face Boogeymon's wrath. Impmon knew that the only way to save both of their lives was by seeking the sanctuary of the Digidestined, whom were all currently partnered with four powerful digimon. Impmon had seen them battling a swarm of Dokugumon just recently and he was secretly awed by their prowess.

"What do you say, Impmon? Should we go back to Boogeymon, or return to Kanto?" Demidevimon questioned eagerly. Then, he added softly, "Where we truly belong?"

Impmon forced a grin. "Well… alright," he said, causing DemiDevimon's face to lit up at once. Impmon's face darkened as he continued, "You know the consequences for turning against Boogeymon, do you? We'll be in danger not only from him, but also from all the forces of the Legion of Darkness in this world."

"I hear that the Digidestined are destined to bring peace back to our world and rid it from all evil," Demidevimon replied. "We'll be a part of it. Think about it, Impmon. Would you rather serve evil all your life, or be a part of the forces of goodness?"

"You certainly are sure about this, do you?" Impmon said, smiling. "Well, let's get going then. We have to hurry. We'll have to go to Primary Village."

Demidevimon nodded, and smiled. "I'm really glad that you decided to do this, Impmon."

"Like you've said, we're in this together," replied Impmon. "Now let's move."

Impmon and Demidevimon then turned the other way around and raced each other to go to Primary Island. As seconds passed, Impmon found that he was also beginning to look forward on a new life as part of the Digidestined. Unbelievable as it seemed, but that was what he'd felt. He picked up speed and ran, while Demidevimon flapped his wings harder and flew even faster. Their journey was smooth and they didn't meet any difficult obstacle.

"Don't you think it is a bit strange, Demidevimon?" Impmon called out to his flying friend. Demidevimon flew over Impmon and frowned.

"I know what you mean, but I don't want to tempt fate. The sooner we arrive at the village, the better."

They continued their journey towards the village, but in their eagerness to get there early, both failed to notice a gust of semi-transparent red cloud with gleaming red eyes was tailing them silently. The strange cloud kept itself hidden whenever Impmon or Demidevimon would turn around by blending in with the trees, which had red, orange and green leaves. This cloud however, wasn't an ordinary cloud. Few knew about it, but Impmon and Demidevimon could easily identify it should they noticed it. However, it seemed that the cloud wasn't going to let it's presence went unnoticed for long as it swiftly glided past Impmon and Demidevimon, causing the two digimon to cower in fear when they saw it.

"It's him!" Impmon exclaimed dreadfully, and started to turn away. However, the cloud began to crackle with electricity and bolts of thunder shot out from its eyes towards him. Impmon was electrocuted, but luckily the cloud didn't seem to want to harm him, so he was merely stunned. Although conscious, Impmon found himself unable to move temporarily.

"Do you think you can escape me?" the cloud hissed angrily. It began to hover around Demidevimon, who gulped with fear. However, his eyes were staring defiantly into the gleaming ruby eyes of the cloud. The cloud began to solidify and in a flash of light, it transformed into Boogeymon. Demidevimon flew backwards slowly as Boogeymon took a few steps on the air, advancing towards him.

"Well, well," he said, and grinned maliciously. "Never have I expected treachery from you, Demidevimon. To be honest, I thought Impmon would be the one who betray me first – he has that rebellious streak within himself. Perhaps you are the craftier and conniving one between the two of you. Yes, I believe that it is…" Boogeymon sneered as he pointed his trident towards Demidevimon. Without any other word, he blasted Demidevimon away with thunderbolts that came from the tips of his trident. Demidevimon was stunned as well, which surprised him – he'd thought that Boogeymon would want to kill him straight away. He fell on the hard, stony ground with a loud thud, right next to Impmon.

"I'd love to finish both of you right now, and right here," Boogeymon said, and to their surprise he was actually smiling. "But on second thought, I've decided to spare your life." Seeing the shocked expressions on Impmon and Demidevimon's faces, Boogeymon laughed loudly. His laughter echoed inside the forest before he stopped and stared hard into their eyes. "Don't even think that I'm doing this out of kindness. Kindness has never been a word in my dictionary, boys. My plan is simple – I plan to use the both of you to draw the Digidestined to my lair, and destroy them altogether. When they have arrived, I will destroy you two in front of that young boy's eyes. It will definitely crush his morale, that I am sure. The rest should be easy."

Boogeymon then looked around, his eyes glowing red. He was using the Curse of the Crimson Eyes to summon any nearby digimon who had been possessed. Three figures stepped out from the thick trees, all three were about the same height and looked somewhat similar. They resembled goblins in some way, and their only differences were their skin-color; one was blue, another was red, and the one standing in between them was green. They were called SnowGoburimon, RedGoburimon and Goburimon, respectively, but referred together as only the Goburimon trio.

"Goburimon trio," Boogeymon boomed. "Relay my message to those blasted Digidestined. Tell them that they have only by tomorrow morning to come to my lair, or else it will be the end of Impmon and Demidevimon."

Goburimon (green) stepped forward and knelt in front of Boogeymon. "The three of us have a score to settle with the caretaker of Primary Village. May we ask for your permission, master, to finish him off."

Boogeymon arched an eyebrow and shrugged. "By all means, Goburimon. Do what you want, settle your personal vendetta if you must with that silly rodent. All I know is that you convey my words to the Digidestined." The Goburimon muttered their gratitude and scurried off immediately, while with a flick of his hand Boogeymon and the two Rookie destined digimon disappeared from sight.

* * *

Meanwhile on Primary Village, the Digidestined were helping Elecmon nursing the young baby digimon and prepared them to turn in for the night. Some of them were just hatched from their digi-eggs and Elecmon was shorthanded. Max had the most experience in taking care of the younglings, and was seen instructing the other Digidestined on what they should be doing. Fresh digimon that were just hatched from their digi-eggs usually couldn't speak anything beside their own names and it was pretty hard to understand them, especially when they were crying. After training under Elecmon for two weeks prior to the other Digidestined's arrival, Max was the only one beside Elecmon who could easily identify what each and every baby digimon need. 

Darien and Kira tried to handle a Poyomon and a Snowbotamon, who were both crying, but to no avail. They had refused to sleep or to drink the milk given to them. The siblings had spent nearly an hour trying to figure out what could be the problem, and had decided to pick them up from their cradles. However, the Fresh digimon misinterpreted this action as an attempt to harm them, and showered Darien and Kira with bubble foams. The foams completely covered their faces, and the Poyomon and Snowbotamon suddenly cooed and chirped happily.

Jon and Kanto were watching a small white In-training digimon who went by the name of Tokomon instructing a group of five different Fresh digimon to follow him back to their cradles, saying that it was time for them to sleep. However, the boisterous Fresh digimon had decided to disobey Tokomon and together they showered the poor In-training digimon with the foam bubbles. Fortunately, the foam bubbles were harmless, and Tokomon resorted to use a method that he called 'the scaring method'. Turning his head away, Tokomon could then be heard sobbing which roused the curiosity of the Fresh digimon. Jon and Kanto watched gleefully, knowing that Tokomon was faking the sobs. When the Fresh digimon got near enough, Tokomon suddenly turned around to face them, baring his rows of razor-sharp teeth and yelled dramatically. Instantly the Fresh digimon yelped in surprise and darted back towards their cradles.

An hour later, it was already dusk. All the Fresh digimon were safely tucked inside their cradles inside the nursery, while the In-training digimon, led by Tokomon, had started up a campfire with the help of the partners of the Digidestined. Elecmon had prepared an excellent dinner for all of them, and as the Digidestined had dinner they related with each other about the fight with the Dokugumon clan they had earlier. The In-training digimon were fascinated by the stories, but Elecmon decided that they had stayed up way past their bedtime and quickly ushered them away. After they had left, the only ones left were Elecmon, the Digidestined and their partner digimons.

Kanto then told the others everything that he had heard from Impmon and Demidevimon earlier that day towards the others. The others were surprised to hear that Impmon and Demidevimon were actually assigned to separate Kanto from the others, and possibly kill him as well. By a strange twist of fate, they turned out to be his partners instead.

"That's not all," Kanto said, stopping to take a drink before continuing. "I heard from them that their master is called Boogeymon." The other Digidestined laughed upon hearing Boogeymon's name; even Max was seen grinning which was a big change from his usual aloof manner. The digimon looked at the humans weirdly.

"I don't think there is anything funny about this Boogeymon," Renamon huffed. "He is a villain that is responsible for the Curse of the Crimson Eyes to spread around this island. It is no laughing matter." All the Digidestined were silenced upon hearing Renamon's comment.

"I'm sorry, Renamon," Kira apologized. "It's just that… his name, Boogeymon, so closely resembles the boogeyman. The boogeyman is a made-up story used by adults, about ghouls that usually hide in our closet and under our bed, to make us go to sleep when we were kindergarteners. I used to be scared silly of the boogeyman story until I started going to elementary."

"Who would have thought that a made-up creature from our world exists in this world," Jon said.

Elecmon shook his head dourly. "Boogey-MON, while only a Champion digimon, far exceeds his level in terms of power. Having embraced the power from the Legion of Darkness, his powers have increased in multifold. He is depicted of being a demon's manifestation himself. Before this, it was only rumored that Boogeymon was responsible for the possessions of various innocent digimon on this island, as no one have actually seen him in person and lives." Elecmon stopped talking instantly; his gaze was suddenly fixed on something way behind the Digidestined. He hissed in anger and leapt up past the Digidestined, and digivolved into Leomon in the process.

"What are you doing here, Goburimon?" Leomon growled, landing on the ground on his feet with great agility. "How dare the three of you step into this place! I've banished you from coming back to this village ever again! Get out, now!" he ordered angrily.

"Easy, Leomon," the green Goburimon mocked. He was grinning, and his eyes were glowing red in the darkness of the night. Leomon instantly realized that something was wrong.

"You're possessed by the curse!" Leomon exclaimed in surprise. "All three of you," he said after noticing that the other two had glowing red eyes as well.

"How smart of you to figure that one out, Leomon!" said the green Goburimon with a sneer. He drew out his club and took on a fighting stance. Both RedGoburimon and SnowGoburimon followed suit and took their places on each side of the green Goburimon. "We've come upon our master's command to deliver his message towards the humans."

"But first, we've decided to settle some scores with you, Leomon!" added RedGoburimon loudly.

SnowGoburimon stepped forward. "You'll pay for what you did to us, Leomon."

Leomon analyzed his opponents carefully. He had defeated them before in an earlier battle, and he was sure that it wouldn't be a problem for him to beat them again. However he was awry of their confidence, and not to mention that they were all under the control of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes. The curse's effect was irreversible, and Leomon knew that the only way for him to win now was by deleting all three of them.

"You have succumbed into the power of the curse as well," Leomon said deeply, and brandished out his sword. "Then I have no choice but to destroy you right here and now. I must not allow you to run free where you can cause harm and death towards others the same way you did once before."

"Still holding a grudge about that, Leomon?" green Goburimon questioned scornfully. "Do you still blame yourself about that, Leomon? Blaming for not being there for those two poor little ones, for not being able to save them? Ah ha!"

Leomon bit his lip in fury. "That was your doing, all three of you! You still have the nerve to bring that up! If it weren't for you those two Yokomon would still be alive! Until now I haven't seen any sign of them being reconfigured."

RedGoburimon laughed out loud. "That's because we have absorbed their data! Ha ha ha! It will be impossible for them to be reborn again as digi-eggs!"

"What?!" Leomon bellowed angrily, his cry echoed all over the village. He calmed down almost instantly, but his face showed rage. "You are evil, Goburimon! All three of you. You're evil even before you've been taken over by the curse, and you're just as wicked now. While still in your senses you have committed an act of sin for digimon, and you have shown no remorse upon your action. It is my duty to rid this island from the likes of you." After saying that, Leomon jumped into the sky and energized his right knuckle, which began to glow with golden lights.

"Fist of the Beast King!!" he shouted, and blasted a powerful ray of yellow lights with an apparition of a growling lion towards the unsuspecting Goburimon. The surprise attack hit green Goburimon almost instantly, but RedGoburimon and SnowGoburimon managed to jump aside before the attack struck them as well. Green Goburimon was lying on his back on the ground, and his body suffered a major injury. Leomon's powerful attack had scorched green Goburimon's chest and stomach. Unable to attack, he had to roll away into safety while RedGoburimon and SnowGoburimon teamed up to battle Leomon.

"What caused Leomon to be so angry with the three Goburimon?" Kotemon wondered as he watched the brawl.

Renamon lowered her head slightly. "Not too long ago, the Goburimon were the occupants of this village as well. They were known for their mischief, and loved to commit pranks on the younger digimon. I was once a victim of their prank when I was still an In-training, although it wasn't too serious and I was not hurt. However, the next day they tricked two friends of mine, both were Yokomon, into venturing out of the village on their own, without Elecmon's knowing. The Goburimon then took a few sheets of white cloth and dressed up as Bakemon, wanting to scare the Yokomon away. But their jokes went too far this time, because the Goburimon hadn't counted a group of Monochromon nearby. They instantly panicked upon seeing what they thought as Bakemon, and stampeded away without looking where they were going. And my two friends…" Renamon closed her eyes and fell in deep silence.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been awful for you," Kira said slowly.

"It was hard for me," Renamon admitted. "But it was even harder for Elecmon to accept when he heard about it. He was extremely furious with the Goburimon; I've never seen Elecmon so enraged before. In fact, his anger towards Goburimon had prompted his first digivolution into Leomon. He banished the three Goburimon out from this village, and forbade them from coming back ever again. The Goburimon were angered by the punishment and sworn to be enemies with Leomon forever before they left the village."

"Do you think we should help Leomon?" Bearmon asked.

Renamon shook her head. "We're not," she said. "But I am. They have caused the death of my friend, and then absorbed their data. I have a score to settle with them as well." She darted off quickly before anyone could say anything.

Leomon was having quite a difficult time trying to battle RedGoburimon and SnowGoburimon at the same time. Their smaller statures made them quicker than the bulkier Leomon, and they were constantly jumping and evading Leomon's attacks. Their power team-up, consisting of fire and ice, made them a formidable team, what more with the power-up granted by the curse. All the advantages made them an even match for Leomon. The odds were against Leomon when green Goburimon, who was injured earlier, had healed mysteriously. The three of them attacked Leomon together by jumping all over him to deliver close range attacks. However, all of sudden SnowGoburimon was jabbed by dozens of small diamond projectiles and fell onto the ground.

"You'll fight with me as well," Renamon said solemnly as she leapt out of nowhere. Not giving SnowGoburimon any time to react, Renamon spread her arms wide and summoned, "Diamond Storm!" The injured SnowGoburimon instantly exploded after the second attack, astonishing Goburimon and RedGoburimon. Leomon smartly used the distraction to his advantage and slashed his sword over RedGoburimon's body, deleting him as well. Shaken by the loss of his two friends, Goburimon snapped out from his shock and immediately jumped away to safety, while Leomon reverted back to Elecmon. Goburimon glared towards Elecmon and Renamon repeatedly; his mind was reeling fast on a strategy to get out from the mess he was in.

"I'm not beaten yet, fools!" Goburimon shouted, and inhaled deeply. His body glowed brightly as he pulled the data particles of RedGoburimon and SnowGoburimon towards him, and absorbed all of them quickly. The glow intensified and Goburimon laughed madly. His eyes were emitting a strange greenish aura, which soon enveloped his whole body.

"I don't believe this!" Renamon exclaimed, and jumped towards Goburimon angrily, preparing for an attack. Her diamond projectiles however died away when they reached the aura surrounding Goburimon.

"Even though you have succeeded in killing my friends, their power shall reside with me forever from now on! Together we shall digivolve!" Goburimon roared loudly. "Goburimon Digivolve to… Ogremon! "

What stood in front of them now was no longer a small goblin digimon. Ogremon was a muscular, yet hunched, digimon with white hair and ferocious expression. He had horns on his head, and on his back was a sharp bony protrusion. He held a bigger cudgel in his hand now, and was snickering maniacally, exposing a set of sharp fangs. Ogremon then took a few steps backward, no longer wanting to fight.

"I have to thank you two for making this possible for me! My friends would never blame me for taking their data, rather than letting them go unused. We'll settle our scores another day," Ogremon said. "I have a message for the Digidestined. Come to Lord Boogeymon's lair by tomorrow morning or else he will finish off those two Rookies!"

Kanto's head snapped up instantly. "Impmon and Demidevimon!"

"Then we must not let them get away!" Kira said, and held up her Digivice high. Bright yellow lights erupted from the Digivice which instantly digivolved Renamon into Kyubimon. "Kyubimon, don't let that creep get away!" Kyubimon obeyed her partner and quickly launched herself towards Ogremon in the form of a blue dragon specter. However, Ogremon saw the upcoming attack and quickly rolled away.

"Very well, you've started the battle. Don't blame me if you got deleted!" Ogremon shouted.

"We still have our own scores to settle!" Kyubimon replied. "I'll never let the deletion of my friends go un-avenged! Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Pummel Whack!" Ogremon struck back, punching the air forcefully. Strong air waves were blasted towards the blue flames launched by Kyubimon. The force of Ogremon's attack was more powerful than Kyubimon's own assault. As the result, Kyubimon was showered by her own attack and was sent away towards the Digidestined. She de-digivolved back into Renamon in the process. This stunned Kira and the other Digidestined, as Renamon usually was stronger than she was today. Yet, she got beaten easily by Ogremon.

"I'm sorry, Kira," Renamon said. "I'm too overwhelmed by my desire to avenge my friends."

Jon and Kotemon looked towards each other. "It's our turn now, Kotemon!"

Kotemon quickly transformed into Dinohumon and ran swiftly towards Ogremon, both hands were holding the giant blades he had on his body. He slashed the bigger blade towards Ogremon, but the agile ogre digimon had used his cudgel to counter Dinohumon's blade, causing a high-pitched clang into the air. Then, Ogremon punched Dinohumon away with his strong fists. Dinohumon however was undaunted; he made a few back-flips while on the air and balanced himself back onto the grounds. He glared towards Ogremon as his body let out a golden aura.

"Autumn Exorcism!!" Waves of brown, orange and yellow leaves projectiles were blown towards Ogremon mystically. The leaves surrounded Ogremon, whom had let his defenses down out of confusion. Dinohumon didn't waste any more time and initiated his Lizard Dance attack, which involved himself cutting and slashing Ogremon with his blades, which had erupted with fire. Ogremon was weakened greatly and had to jump away to safety.

"The more time you spend fighting me means lesser time for you to get to the two Rookie digimon!" Ogremon taunted, causing Dinohumon to hesitate. Seeing this, the outmatched Ogremon quickly fled. His laughter echoed all over the air, taunting the Digidestined that they would never made it to Boogeymon's twin towers on time. Dinohumon, a little tired from the battle, quickly de-digivolved back into Kotemon to begin conserving his energy.

"What do we do now?" Kanto said in despair.

"We have no time to lose," Max replied. "I've seen the twin towers before during on my way here when I first arrived. It looks pretty close by, but actually it's quite far away from here. We have to start now if we hope to make it there by dawn."

"Will you follow us, Elecmon?" Renamon asked her mentor.

Elecmon shook his head and forced a smile. "Someone has to stay here and look after the babies. But hear this, Digidestined. By going to the twin towers you will face Boogeymon, a digimon of the Legion of Darkness. I bid you good luck, my friends. You are our only hope, as the legends have stated. Perhaps now will be the time that Database Island will be free again from the Curse of the Crimson Eyes."

Darien, Kira, Jon and Kanto were stunned. "You mean, we're going to go after the real bad guy now?" Jon said, gulping.

"Definitely," Max cut in before Elecmon could answer. "Now that there are the five of us, I guess. We have to go to the twin towers and save Kanto's partners. Then the five of us will be at our full strength, and we can fight Boogeymon."

"Why are you so sure about this?" Darien demanded. "Impmon and Demidevimon didn't even want to admit that they are Kanto's partners. For all I know, that Ogremon might be leading us to a trap! He is working under Boogeymon, and Boogeymon might have told him to make us go to his lair."

Bearmon shifted his attention uneasily from Darien to Max. "I agree with Darien, although I myself want this island to be restored into its formerly peaceful state."

"But…" Kanto protested. "Demidevimon… he'd wanted to come with me. I knew it; I saw it on his face."

"I personally believe that Demidevimon has a good heart," added Renamon, recalling how Demidevimon wanted to thank her for saving him and Impmon back at Dokugumon's lair.

"But he chose to tag along with his friend," Darien reminded Kanto. "It's not that I don't want to go and save your partners, Kanto, but are you sure that they are really captured? Ogremon might be leading us into a trap, and I personally don't want to risk your safety and anyone's as well, to just march up there and end up being Boogeymon's data dinner."

"If you don't want to come…" Max said sourly. "Then don't. No one's forcing you. I'll go with the others."

"No way am I going to let you take Kira, Jon or Kanto with you," Darien said hotly. "I'm responsible for their safeties."

"As do we," Renamon said calmly. "As Kira's digimon partner, I'm fully responsible of protecting her just as you, as her older brother. But I know as well that if we decided not to pursue this matter, then Boogeymon would simply delete Impmon and Demidevimon and thus, stopping the prophecy from being fulfilled. And if that happens, then no one is safe. Everyone will be in danger. Even all of you won't be able to return home."

"I'm with her," Kira said softly towards her brother. "Don't you agree with her too, Darien? You know that she's right. We can never go home if we don't do our part. We have to help our partners to save this world from the Legion of Darkness."

"I agree," said Jon, his eyes twinkling. "I may not be the bravest sort of person, but I want to do this as well. Not just to go home, but to help our friends. Kanto has been looking for his partner all this time when we already have our partners. Now that he already know of his partners, and to learn that they are in danger, shouldn't we, as Kanto's friends, go and save them as well. It would mean a lot for Kanto."

"Yes…" Kanto's voice trailed off as he set his eyes towards the twin towers, which were merely the size of his thumb from where he was standing. "They're my partners, Darien. I know it. You know it, too."

Darien fell silent for a while, considering what Kira and Jon had said. He looked towards Kanto, who looked desperate enough to go on his own should he didn't agree to go. Next, he shifted his attention towards Kira and Jon, both looking stubborn to go along with Max, who had the look of grim determination on his face. Bearmon wanted to go as well, Darien knew that, but the bear cub was sticking up to him loyally. ToyAgumon, Renamon and Kotemon stared towards him with the looks of hope. And finally, he sighed heavily and nodded.

"Now that's more like it!" ToyAgumon announced.

"Glad that you finally decide not to chicken out," Max huffed, but then flashed him a rare, approving smile.

"I'm happy that you have decided to help us," said Renamon.

"So do I," Kotemon agreed.

"I knew that you would agree," Kira said with a grin, and Jon merely shrugged.

Kanto on the other hand, began to feel tears in his eyes. "Thank you," he said gratefully.

"Let's get going then. We have two digimon to save!" Darien exclaimed, winking towards Kanto and flashed him a thumbs up.

Quickly, all four digimon advanced into their Champion forms and had their partners on them. Kanto tagged along with Darien on Grizzmon, and after Elecmon bid them farewell and luck, they quickly began their journey towards the twin towers in the dark of the night. To go there, they had to go through the forest around Primary Village before coming into the dark jungle area. Then they would reach four obstacles which they would need to pass in order to get to the Zero Mountain, where Boogeymon's twin towers were. Those obstacles were placed by Boogeymon to prevent intruders, and those who successfully endured the obstacles would be made his slaves. However the Digidestined's situation was precarious. There was no way that they could overcome all the obstacles within only a few hours. Their digimon were not fully adapted to endure the obstacles, no matter how strong they were.

"According to Elecmon, the first hindrance we have to go through is by crossing this place," Max said and observed the barren land in front of him. An hour had passed since they left Primary Village, and they had just made it out from the dark jungle safely.

"What seems to be the problem?" Darien asked. "All I can see is a small rocky desert."

Max didn't answer, but bent down and picked a small pebble on the ground. He then threw the pebble forward, and to the other's astonishment, the grounds suddenly cackled with electricity. Yellow bolts of small miniatures of lightning shot out from the grounds and engulfed the small pebble, destroying it into pieces.

"See what I mean?"

"How do you know about this place?" Kanto asked and scanned his surroundings. The arid region in front of him was deathly silent, and strange half-completed stone walls and stone formations were scattered all over the place. It looked like the place had been abandoned for a very long time. From afar, he and the others could see the Zero Mountain with the twin towers looked eerily inviting.

"Elecmon told me about this some time ago, and the digimon should know about this as well" answered Max. "There are four obstructions that we have to face before reaching Boogeymon's lair. He had placed four difficult barriers around Zero Mountain. The first is here, the Thunder Wasteland where the ground would electrocute anyone that step on it. Flying isn't an option as well as those walls and stones will also shock you to death."

"Next will be the Forest of Thorns," Veedramon informed. "I think the name explains it all. Trees with thorns grow close to each other makes up the second barrier."

"The third one will be the Magma Cauldron," said Kyubimon. "It is a volcanic canyon, with fires spitting out every now and then. Only a fire-based digimon could fly over the canyon and pass the third obstacle safely. Unfortunately for us, none of us are well-adapted for fire."

"None of us can cope with electricity and thorns either," Grizzmon muttered.

"I heard that the fourth and final obstacle is by far the easiest obstacle of all," Dinohumon said. "You'll only need to cross the Azure River and you'll reach the foot of Zero Mountain if you succeed."

"Nothing is that easy," said Veedramon. "The Azure River is packed with hungry possessed Seadramon."

"So we need to go through electricity, thorns, fire and water in order to reach Zero Mountain?" Jon asked. "Boogeymon is definitely a genius as well. He knew only too well that none of our digimon can cope with these four harsh conditions. How can we even go through the first barrier? No digimon of ours can withstand intense thundershock."

The Digidestined stared onto the barren lands in despair, trying to figure out exactly how they were going to be able to go past the Thunder Wasteland safely. The moon was emitting pale white lights onto the lands below, casting strange shadows all over. Once in a while, more crackles of electricity were seen on the grounds. Veedramon and Kyubimon took turns firing their attacks towards the half-built stone walls and stone formations in hope of destroying them, but their efforts were in vain as their attacks were cancelled out by bolts of thunder shooting out from the walls and the formations when the attacks were just about to hit them. Grizzmon and Dinohumon remained still and thought of any other alternative, but there was no use.

"What are we going to do?" Kanto asked gloomily. "Our time is running out."

"Don't worry," said Darien. "We'll find a way."

"I'm afraid there is no other way!" a loud voice boomed from the sky. A huge shadow shot past the Digidestined, and the Digidestined could hear strange buzzing sound coming from the source of the voice. Looking up, their faces paled upon seeing a formidable, blue-grey giant insect digimon with a grotesque head, hovering over them. It looked ready to attack them, and was closing in on them. Veedramon, the largest destined digimon among the four of them, jumped forward after putting Max on the ground, ready to fight the bug digimon that was coming closer towards them. The insect digimon was slightly larger than Veedramon, but the blue draconic digimon won't let any harm came to his friends. Kyubimon, Dinohumon and Grizzmon stood beside Veedramon, ready to take on their new opponent. In the midst of a crisis, the Digidestined wondered whether they had the time to fight the oncoming enemy and raced the clock to save Kanto's partners. What would happen next?

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Author's Notes : Sorry if this chapter takes so long to write. Holidays have been fun, and now that school's started I'm back to work. This year will be a busy year, but I will continue writing whenever I have the free time. This story still has a long way to go, so stay tuned. 

DTV – Thanks for telling me where the dubs I'm watching came from. I've always fascinated by what Impmon would turn out to be in his Champion and Ultimate forms, and the fact that Demidevimon has various digivolutionary forms. I probably won't use the Impmon—Boogeymon—Phelesmon digivolution line as you have suggested, as Boogeymon is already featured as a main villain.


	7. Prelude to Battle

**_LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED_**

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**_Chapter 07 – Prelude to _****_Battle_**

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"Either you go back to where you came from, bug-brain, or I'll delete you into bits and pieces!" Veedramon warned.

"No, wait," said Max, stopping his partner quickly while pointing towards the sudden intruder's eyes. "I don't think it meant any harm."

Veedramon skeptically looked up, and stared towards the head of the giant insect digimon that appeared so suddenly towards them. While its face and overall appearance seemed to be intimidating, but amidst the dark of the night everyone could see clearly what Max had meant. Its eyes were not glowing red, as any other digimon possessed by the curse would be. They looked normal, and the Digidestined were relieved while their digimon relaxed. However they didn't put down their guards, as looks could be deceiving. The digimon stranger on the other hand, stayed silent and didn't move in to attack them. Instead, it was looking towards the Digidestined and their partners one by one, and it was evidently excited.

"How I dream of finally meeting you," said the digimon. "Forgive my looks but I'm actually here in favor of Elecmon. My name is Kabuterimon, and I will assist you in crossing the Thunder Wasteland safely, as there is no other way for you to cross there all by yourself." Kabuterimon landed next to where Veedramon was standing, and the two hulking digimon created a massive shadow over the smaller ones and the Digidestined.

"You're here because Elecmon asked you to?" asked Darien, rather skeptically. "Elecmon didn't tell us that he would send any help."

"Right, because it was only after you guys have left the Primary Village that Elecmon came to the four of us to help you guys go through the barriers of Zero Mountain."

"Don't you think that sounded just a little too convenient?" Max asked. "What's the proof that you're really here because Elecmon asked you to?"

Kyubimon stepped forward. "I think I've heard of you a long time ago from Elecmon. Aren't you and your friends Elecmon's first four students that have already left Primary Village?"

Kabuterimon looked towards Kyubimon. "That's right. How do you know this?"

"Elecmon is my mentor now. He speaks highly about the four of you," Kyubimon said, and turned towards the Digidestined. "We can trust them, they are my fellow disciples."

"Just now you said that there are four of you guys, but I can see only you," Kira pointed out.

"Nope. There are three more on top of Kabuterimon's body," Veedramon announced.

Kabuterimon laughed lightly and lowered down his body, and three smaller figures jumped onto the grounds silently. One was an lovable pink bird, one was a white seal with purple markings and a red Mohawk, and lastly there was a cute yet obscure green digimon, who looked half-reptile and half-plant with a blooming fuchsia flower on top of its head.

"Meet my friends," Kabuterimon said. "Biyomon, Gomamon and Palmon."

"Hiya!" Gomamon, the seal digimon, chirped brightly.

"Hello!" Biyomon and Palmon chorused together. From their voices it was obvious that they were females. "Pleased to meet all of you."

"The pleasure's all ours," Kira answered. "Oh, you guys are so adorable!"

"Gee, thanks," Gomamon replied with a grin. "But just so you know, we're not just cute. The four of us pack quite a punch!"

All of them laughed, and the Digidestined instantly trusted the four digimon and quickly befriended them. Then, Kabuterimon motioned for all of them to climb on his body quickly. He assured them that he would see to it that all of them would be unscathed after crossing the Thunder Wasteland. All four destined digimon quickly de-digivolved as their larger Champion forms would not accommodate Kabuterimon, especially Veedramon.

"If there's any digimon that can withstand the Thunder Wasteland, it's Kabuterimon," said Biyomon assuringly. "We'll be perfectly all right."

"What about the Forest of Thorns? We still need to go through it even after reaching the end of this desert," Jon questioned.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Palmon said airily. "That's where I come in."

"Hold on to something, we're in for a bumpy ride!" Kabuterimon exclaimed, and his insectoid wings began moving. Slowly, he raised himself on the air, paying extra attention not to drop anyone in the process. Max, Darien and ToyAgumon had settled in on top of Kabuterimon's head, which was actually his helmet. Max had to hold ToyAgumon as the cubical features of the toy dino made him unable to grab the horn of Kabuterimon, which was also covered by the silvery steel helmet. Meanwhile the others sat on Kabuterimon's back, holding onto him tightly. Kabuterimon began entering the desert, and picked up speed almost instantly. The grounds, walls and stones of the desert began to crackle madly, letting out sparks of electricity. Then, without any warning, one of the many stone formations shot out a thunderbolt.

"Electro Shocker!" Kabuterimon roared loudly, and countered the thunderbolt with his own brand of electrical attack. He let out a light blue thunderbolt of his own with purple sparks of lightning, and hailed it towards the upcoming thunderbolt. The two attacks collided and let out a deafening explosion. Both attacks had cancelled each other and for a brief second, the assaults from the desert had stopped.

"Way to go, Kabuterimon!" Gomamon cheered.

"Don't look now but here comes another one!" Bearmon screamed.

"I'll take care of it! Electro Shocker!" Kabuterimon sent again lightning bolts one after another. The Rookie digimon on board of Kabuterimon lent helping hands as they too took part in the battle, deflecting minor energy blasts from the mysterious desert. They were in an extremely dangerous situation, but thanks to Kabuterimon they were coping well. But at the same time back in Primary Village, something evil was approaching while the occupants of the village, save for Elecmon, were deep in their slumber. Elecmon was patrolling around the village, making sure that everything was fine. Half of him was wondering of the Digidestined's safeties, and he also couldn't help himself from thinking about Ogremon. Part of the reason why he was still up was that he'd feared that Ogremon would return and seek revenge. He was preoccupied with his thoughts that he barely noticed a crying sound coming from the cradle situated at the farthest end of the nursery. Even so, the cradle itself was separated a little bit too far from the other cradle.

"I'm coming!" Elecmon said, rushing over towards the crying sound to see what was the matter. He placed his front paws on the top of the cradle and peered inside. A young Poyomon was inside, crying.

"What's the matter, little one?" asked Elecmon. The Poyomon stopped crying instantly and stared at Elecmon with its black eyes. It was then that Elecmon noticed something weird about the digimon.

"You've just hatched, aren't you? I've never seen you before," Elecmon said. "A red Poyomon? I've never encountered such digimon before. Maybe you're a new breed of digimon." The Poyomon nodded exuberantly, and let out a squeal of excitement.

"You're lonely, right? I wonder why your cradle is so far away from the others. You must be scared, to be here on your own."

The Poyomon nodded again, being unable to speak he just squeaked his name. "Poyo, poyo."

"Do you want something to drink? Milk?"

The Poyomon shook its head.

"I see. How about you go back to your sleep?"

The Poyomon let out a sharp squeal, looking absolutely miffed.

"Okay, that's obviously a no," Elecmon laughed. "Do you want to go potty then?"

The Poyomon purred, and smiled.

"And you want me to accompany you to the toilet?"

The Poyomon was now jumping up and down excitedly, and hopped out from the cradle. Elecmon quickly catched it gently with his front paws. He placed the red Poyomon carefully on the soft grounds and turned on all fours, motioning for the Poyomon to hop on him. They crept out from the nursery quietly as not to wake the other digimon, and headed straight towards the toilet which was outside the nursery. The Poyomon quickly leapt away from Elecmon and skipped towards the toilet, while Elecmon sauntered towards the little one slowly. Turning his body away, Elecmon waited as the Poyomon entered the lavatory. For a few minutes, everything was silent.

"Are you okay inside there?" Elecmon called. He got no answer. "You've been inside quite long now. Hurry up so we can go back to the nursery and I can put you back to sleep." Elecmon chuckled to himself when he got no answer again, mumbling that the Poyomon probably wanted some privacy. However he was alarmed when he saw smokes coming out from the toilet where Poyomon was. His first instinct was to go inside and retrieve Poyomon, but he stopped dead in track when the toilet door was opened and the red Poyomon was no where in sight. Looking up towards the smoke, Elecmon grew wary as the smokes began to solidify and formed a red cloud with strange glowing red eyes.

"There is no Poyomon here," the cloud hissed, and realization dawned on Elecmon.

"You!" he said angrily, and the cloud transformed into a satanic digimon whom Elecmon recognized instantly. "Boogeymon!"

"Yes, and…" Boogeymon quickly raised his trident and shot sparks of lightning towards Elecmon, blasting the rodent away towards the toilet. The toilet was destroyed by the lightning, and the plastic blocks that formerly formed the toilet piled on Elecmon. Boogeymon cackled loudly as he used his trident to shoot away some blocks away to get to Elecmon. However, an angry roar thundered into the air, and Leomon jumped out from the block piles. He was about to attack Boogeymon when suddenly he felt his body grew limp. Leomon's vision became obscure and the last thing he saw before he passed out was a pair of red eyes.

In the meantime, Kabuterimon had already successful in bringing the Digidestined safely across the Thunder Wasteland. Some parts of the desert were destroyed by Kabuterimon's attacks, while some remained intact as Kabuterimon also made it a point to fly across the desert as swiftly as possible. Thus, he destroyed only those who got in his way, and avoided the attacks that came from other directions. In front of them now was a forest full of cactuses, and leafless trees that only had thorns growing out from the branches. Kabuterimon was panting heavily, tired after his effort.

"Palmon, get ready," Kabuterimon instructed after all of the digimon and Digidestined got down from Kabuterimon.

"Ready when you are," replied Palmon with a wink. Kabuterimon' s body glowed white, and he began to grow smaller. When the lights left him he was now a much smaller red ladybug digimon with yellow insectoid eyes. The white lights from him then entered Palmon's body and she grew larger in size.

"Palmon Digivolve to… Togemon!" Now, a massive walking cactus with hollow holes for the eyes and the mouth was standing in front of them, clad in a pair of red boxing gloves. The Digidestined and their digimon partners were impressed, and also surprised that Kabuterimon had turned into another digimon.

"I suppose you're not Kabuterimon now?" asked Jon.

"I'm Tentomon now," said the ladybug digimon. "The four of us share the same power of digivolution, but only one of us can stay in Champion form at one time. The power is bestowed to us by an old friend of ours."

"Who is this old friend of yours?" Max inquired curiously.

"He… or rather they, are great digimon but we haven't heard of them for so long," Togemon answered. "Ever since the invasion of the Legion of Darkness worldwide, we've lost touch. But let's get to work, shall we? My Needle Spray and Lightspeed Jabbing will un-root all of these pathetic excuses for weeds."

"We'll help you out," offered ToyAgumon. "I think this is something that we can do."

"Any extra hand is always appreciated although I'm quite fine doing this all by myself," replied Togemon. Therefore, the four destined digimon resumed their Champion forms and together with Togemon they made quick work of the Forest of Thorns. However while Veedramon, Grizzmon, Kyubimon and Dinohumon were more involved in firing off their signature attacks towards the trees, it was actually Togemon who contributed the most. The trees were somehow able to sustain the attacks; but Togemon's powerful punches were physical attacks which successfully removed the trees with a couple of punches each. Veedramon and Grizzmon were earlier undaunted and wanted to show off their physical prowess as well, but both ended up getting jabbed by the thorns. It was revealed that Togemon's gloves were made off a very special hide, which protected her hands from being stabbed. Nothing could puncture the gloves, and so within less than an hour Togemon had cleared off a path for the others to walk through.

"Good job, Togemon!" Biyomon cheered.

All of them walked through the path easily and reached the Magma Cauldron. The temperature had elevated approximately a ten-fold, and all of them were sweating profusely. They reached the canyon and looked down into the abyss. A river of lava was flowing down there; anyone who was unfortunate to fall down there would never survive the heat of the lava. They needed to cross over the canyon to the other side, barely visible from where they were standing now. Togemon shimmered suddenly and dropped onto the grounds, reverting back to Palmon as the same ray of white light exited her body.

"I don't really adapt well with the intense heat," said Palmon weakly. "This is supposed to be Biyomon's area of expertise."

The white light engulfed Biyomon, energizing her power and increased her size gradually. With the shout of "Biyomon Digivolve to… Birdramon!" Biyomon instantly was transformed into a regal firebird, with feathers seemed to be made of flames. All of the Digidestined and digimon were awed by the digivolution. Only one seemed to be irritated, and he was watching the Digidestined's every move from the safety of his twin towers.

"Blast those interfering digimon!" Boogeymon roared angrily, his eyes stopped glowing. As no possessed digimon was around the Magma Cauldron vicinity to do the watching for him, Boogeymon had to use his own power to observe his enemies. He grew more apprehensive as the moon was still shining over the sky brightly. "At this rate, they'll definitely reach here by dawn. But no matter, I still have a few surprises of my own. They'll never expect to see a trusted friend of theirs is now under my power."

Turning his attention towards two kneeling figures in front of him, Boogeymon suddenly had an idea.

"Why should I keep my word and wait for them to stroll in here freely to collect Impmon and Demidevimon? The original plan was to have them all in the same place and I can destroy them altogether, but one can never be too careful…" Boogeymon grinned maliciously as he turned to face Impmon and Demidevimon, both were trapped inside a small energy-based dome prison.

"Leomon," said Boogeymon, and one of the two kneeling figures immediately stood up.

"Yes, master." Eyes glowing crimson, Leomon was now under Boogeymon's control.

"Dispose them."

After passing the Magma Cauldron safely on Birdramon, they had finally reached the final obstacle – the Azure River. Despite the name, Azure River was too large and much too deep to qualify as one, and could easily pass as a lake. It looked tranquil and undisturbed, but all of them knew that a group of ferocious sea dragon digimon, known as Seadramon, was waiting for anyone who dared to intrude their river. Birdramon had devolved back into her Rookie form, transferring the digivolution power towards Gomamon. Accompanied by a brilliant display of white lights, Gomamon was transformed into a white hairy walrus with a horn on his head. His new form was called Ikkakumon.

"All aboard now," announced Ikkakumon. "The ship takes off in a minute!"

Quickly, all of them went up on Ikkakumon and they began crossing the Azure River. Ikkakumon felt a weak current trying to divert him away from going straight towards Zero Mountain, and asserted more force by paddling his feet swifter. In a moment of comfortable silence, all of them were enjoying the peaceful night. The stars were twinkling brightly and the full moon beautified the blackness of the sky. However, dark clouds were seen hovering above the twin towers above Zero Mountain, marking an evil presence there. The Digidestined remained awry, as the said Seadramon group didn't show up. They wanted to conserve their digimon's energy for the upcoming battle, which would probably be the final battle, but as their new allies couldn't digivolve together at once they would have no choice if the Seadramon decided to ambush them. Ikkakumon knew this, and tried his best to shorten their journey by picking up more speed.

But suddenly, three serpentine creatures with green scales slithered out from the calm surface of the lake and hissed loudly. The force that came from the suddenness of their appearance nearly knocked Ikkakumon away should the latter wasn't cautious.

"The Seadramon!" Ikkakumon gasped. "Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikkakumon's horn was revealed to be actually a rocket, and it was launched towards one of the Seadramon. The horn-torpedo hit one of the Seadramon squarely on the head, sending it crashing towards the other two. Making full use of the distraction, Ikkakumon quickly resumed paddling to bring all of them to safety.

"We can't outrun them; the Seadramon can easily catch up with us. We have no choice but to fight them!" said Jon frantically.

"Just make sure that neither ToyAgumon nor Bearmon digivolve, I don't think I can handle that much weight!" panted Ikkakumon.

"No fair!" ToyAgumon huffed.

"I'm not that heavy!" Bearmon said incredulously.

"Sorry guys but Ikkakumon's right. Let Renamon and Kotemon do all the fighting for now," said Darien.

"You'll keep your energy to fight the big baddie," Kotemon suggested before digivolving into Dinohumon. Renamon followed suit by advancing to Kyubimon. Both of them leapt into the air and aimed their attacks together towards one of the Seadramon, who was hit by Ikkakumon's attack earlier.

"Autumn Exorcism!"

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

The Seadramon altogether fired a counter attack. "Ice Blast!"

The icy attacks of the Seadramon instantly froze the mystical leaves and the blue flames that came from Dinohumon and Kyubimon, who leapt out of the way before the icy froze them as well. Although they were beaten, but the frozen leaves and flames gave the two destined digimon an advantage; they used them as stepping stones and jumped from one frozen leaf to another frozen fireball.

"They are ice-based digimon!" Kyubimon said.

"So let's fight ice with FIRE!" Dinohumon replied, and jumped onto Kyubimon's back. Both digimon energized their power as Kyubimon transformed into a fiery blue dragon specter, with Dinohumon riding her. Gliding her way towards the nearest Seadramon, Kyubimon made her way _through_ one of them, while Dinohumon jumped away before the collision. Just as the Seadramon was destroyed by Kyubimon's Dragon Wheel, Dinohumon took out his largest blade on his back and used it as a sky-surfer, and headed towards the other Seadramon. With his Lizard Dance, Dinohumon destroyed another Seadramon. Before any of them could finish off the remaining Seadramon, a familiar torpedo went past both of them and blasted it into oblivion.

"Great display you guys but we really need to get going!" said Ikkakumon as Kyubimon and Dinohumon landed on him safely, returning into their Rookie forms safely. They reached the foot of Zero Mountain without anymore disturbance, and Ikkakumon became Gomamon again.

"We're here," said Max.

"Hopefully Boogeymon won't be too tough to handle," said Darien positively.

"He won't be the ultimate bad guy if he's a wimp," Gomamon replied.

"Oh joy," muttered Darien.

"Don't mind Gomamon," Tentomon said and gave Gomamon a sharp look. However his insectoid features on his face didn't express pretty much what he was feeling, earning him a goofy grin from the cheeky seal digimon. But when both Biyomon and Palmon glared at him, Gomamon quickly put on a serious face. This act of humor in the midst of the sober situation amused the Digidestined, even Kanto, who was saddened and worried about the fate of his two digimon partners.

"Looks like this is where we'll leave you," said Biyomon solemnly.

"You're not coming?" Jon gasped. "But why? We sure could use your help."

"Our task is only to help you guys overcome the barriers placed by Boogeymon around the Zero Mountain," Palmon answered with a smile.

"This is something that the Digidestined have to do by themselves, just like it was said in the prophecy," added Tentomon.

"Yeah, we've assisted you in any way we can. Now go up there and kick Boogeymon's hind!" Gomamon said.

"Gomamon!" Tentomon, Biyomon and Palmon exclaimed in unison.

The Digidestined nodded soberly, saddened by the fact that they were on their own again.

"Hey, you guys acted like we won't see each other again!" Gomamon said.

"Gomamon, maybe it's best if you just keep quiet," Tentomon said exasperatedly.

"What? I'm just trying to lighten things up!" Gomamon shot back.

"Gomamon's right," said Max. "We'll see each other again, after we've finished this."

"We really can't thank you enough for helping us overcoming the obstacles," Kanto said, glancing towards the sky. It was still dark, although they were already faint traces of dawn lights coming from the horizon. "We owe you guys so much. I especially, because if you four didn't come to our aid I can never be here to save my partners."

Tentomon and Gomamon nodded, while Biyomon and Palmon tried their very best to hold back their tears.

"Think nothing of it," Palmon replied, between a few restrained sobs.

"We're happy for being able to assist the famed Digidestined," Gomamon added. "And we'd do it again anytime. Count on that!"

"In a heartbeat," Biyomon continued.

"And…" Tentomon looked over to his three friends knowingly. "To rise up your odds against Boogeymon, we've decided to give up our digivolution power to you guys, so your digimon partners can maintain their Champion forms longer and have more power than before."

"You cannot do that!" protested Renamon. "You said that your power is given by a lost friend. We should not take it from you guys."

ToyAgumon agreed with Renamon. "How are you guys going to digivolve later without your power?"

"We already have our partners," said Bearmon.

"They are our source of powers," continued Kotemon.

Tentomon shook his head. "You must understand that you are our only hope. Every digimon here on this island would do anything to make sure that the five of you will emerge victorious against the side of darkness. Our sacrifice is incomparable with what you Digidestined and digimon have done to us. The Digidestined especially, as they come from a foreign world to help us free our world. Over the course of few weeks, you have eliminated all the digimon cursed by the Legion of Darkness. We are confident that you can lead us to freedom."

"Please," Biyomon pleaded. "It would really mean a lot to us if you take it."

"If that's what you guys wanted…" Max's voice trailed off as he glanced towards his fellow Digidestined. All of them nodded approvingly.

"Hold out your Digivices," said Tentomon. "We'll begin the power transfer ceremony."

The Digidestined did like what Tentomon had requested. Tentomon, Biyomon, Palmon and Gomamon then stood close towards the upheld Digivices and closed their eyes. The former three signaled for Gomamon to start the power transfer, as their power of digivolution was last used by him.

"Power of digivolution! Come forth to us!" Gomamon began. White lights erupted from his body, forming a hovering pearl-like energy ball. All of those present could feel the pureness and the intensity of the power of digivolution.

"The power bestowed to us by Lord Omnimon! You have served us well," Tentomon continued.

"Now you are meant for greater cause," said Biyomon.

"Help these Digidestined fulfill the legends foretold by our ancestors!" Palmon ended the verse, and the white energy ball pulsed in return. It then shimmered in blue, red, yellow, green and violet before returning back into its white color. Subsequently, it separated into the five said colors and entered the respective Digivices. Then all five Digivices were suspended mysteriously on the air by an unknown force and it seemed like they were pulsing as well. But then the lights disappeared and all Digivices limped back onto their owner's waiting hands.

"I feel… strange," said ToyAgumon, and he digivolved into Veedramon.

"I feel warm all over my body," declared Bearmon, and he digivolved into Grizzmon.

"My powers are all coming back to me," said Renamon, and she advanced into Kyubimon.

"Same here with me!" Kotemon cried happily and transformed into Dinohumon.

Unaware that they were being watched very closely, the Digidestined and their partners bid farewell to their new allies and set forth on heading towards the twin towers. To save time, all of them chose to ride their partners. In the meantime, Boogeymon was practically fuming with fury. Leomon was seen inside the same room as well, lying on the floor and looked only half-conscious. On his chest was a burnt mark, with a big dart sticking up on it. Moaning slightly, Leomon wasn't able to get himself up. Ogremon wasn't seen inside the room, and the same went to Impmon and Demidevimon. Boogeymon was shouting out about Leomon being an incompetence servant, and that Ogremon had served him better, when suddenly he picked up a vision coming from Ogremon through the power of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes. Instantly, he regained his poise and sat himself back on his throne, a weird expression of calmness formed on his devilish face.

"The battle has finally begun!"


	8. A Wizard's Homecoming

**_LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED_**

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**_Chapter 08 – A Wizard's Homecoming_**

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"Faster, Demidevimon!" cried Impmon hurriedly, as he ran with all the speed he could muster.

Demidevimon descended slowly towards Impmon, wings flapping. "Do you think we're safe?"

"I don't know, but best if we continue running until we see the Digidestined. What's taking them so long, they should've been here by now!" panted Impmon.

As both of them ran, the events happening earlier played on their mind.

* * *

Leomon was advancing towards the both of them as Boogeymon had lifted the barriers which were holding them. Drawing his sword, Leomon's face broke into an evil sneer which wiped off the nobility the lion-man digimon had before he was controlled by Boogeymon. Knowing that any extra time would be precious, Impmon whispered a plan towards Demidevimon. The latter had no objection; he'd rather die fighting his way out from Boogeymon's clutch than waiting for Leomon to finish him off. For a while, Impmon was struck with awe at his friend's determination but then, he also felt the same way. Hoping that Kanto and the other Digidestined would reach them in time, as soon as the force-field was gone they quickly scattered into opposite sides of the throne room. Their aim was the sole window, which was quite near the throne.

"You will never escape me, wretches!" bellowed Leomon, and aimed his fist towards Impmon. "Fist of the Beast King!"

Impmon saw the incoming attack and quickly jumped away, the attack barely scorched his feet. Angered, he instantly retaliated with a few series of Badda Boom, which Leomon reflected away with his sword without too much effort. Realizing that his effort was futile, Impmon decided to use a stronger attack, and conjured up flames on his right hand and ice on the other.

"Infernal Funnel!" summoned Impmon, and joined the fire and ice together, creating an energy ball which was strong enough to knock away Leomon's sword. Seeing his big chance, he proceeded by firing off more of his Badda Boom attack as Leomon no longer had the means to protect himself. However, the curse within Leomon bestowed him with tremendous energy, and Impmon discovered that while all of his attacks had hit Leomon on his torso and hands, Leomon was barely daunted. Instead, he walked closer to Impmon, not bothering to pick his sword up. Readying his fist, Leomon attacked again with his signature attack, and this time around Impmon was hit squarely, and was severely weakened.

"Impmon!" cried Demidevimon, and he quickly came to his fallen friend's defend. Eyes shining, he started his attempt to hypnotize Leomon. "Evil Whisper."

For a moment, Leomon looked dazed when his eyes caught Demidevimon's. But then, the crimson glow within his eyes intensified and the effect of Demidevimon's attack was nullified. With a roar, Leomon darted forward and delivered Demidevimon a mighty blow, which would have deleted the Rookie if he hadn't attempted to move away. Nevertheless he was knocked away towards Impmon.

"Insolent turncoats! You should know better that nothing escapes me," said Boogeymon. "Leomon, finish them off NOW!"

Impmon staggered on his feet with the help of Demidevimon as Leomon advanced towards them. They were too weak, and outmatched by the mighty Champion who was going to deliver the final blow to finish them off once and for all. Closing their eyes, both prayed for a miracle to happen, a miracle which would get them out of this life-and-death situation.

And they got their wish.

Suddenly, both Impmon and Demidevimon were enveloped with violet aura of lights. The sensation was familiar, and the aura had healed all their wounds besides energizing them back to full strength.

"It's like back at Dokugumon's cave," realized Impmon.

"Kanto…" Demidevimon whispered gratefully. "Thank you."

Impmon suddenly had the devilish look on his face. "Shall we?"

"Right," said Demidevimon. Both digimon quickly took their position and summoned all of their energy to fight Leomon once again.

"Infernal Funnel!"

"Demi Dart!"

Both attacks merged into a silvery-violet arrow of light and blasted towards Leomon. The lion-man wasted no time and delivered a counter attack with his Fist of the Beast King attack. The two attacks collided, but the arrow from Impmon and Demidevimon shot through Leomon's attack, slowly reverting back into Impmon's fireball and Demidevimon's dart as the energy it had earlier was slowly diminished in order to absorb Leomon's own attack. However everything happened so quick, and the next thing all of them knew, Leomon was hit with Impmon's attack on his chest, while Demidevimon's dart shot onto his body at the same place. Leomon let out a loud howl of pain and collapsed onto the ground, barely conscious and defeated. Boogeymon couldn't believe his eyes and got up from his throne. Aiming his trident towards Impmon and Demidevimon, he fired off crimson lightning blasts to kill them before they could escape from his towers. Violet lights flared again from Impmon and Demidevimon and deflected the attack. Impmon then grabbed Demidevimon and made a run for the sole window inside the chamber.

"Death Clash!" Boogeymon roared and crimson diamond projectiles shot out from his widespread wings. Once again, Impmon and Demidevimon were protected from the attack, but even the violet lights couldn't protect them any longer as it began to fade after taking on Boogeymon's attack. The window was getting closer and closer, but there was another obstacle awaiting them.

"Ogremon, stop them!"

Ogremon quickly raised his club and prepared to stop the two Rookies from making their way towards the window. Impmon however was smart as he used tact to deal with Ogremon rather than fight him heads on, by simply sliding through the spaces between Ogremon's widespread legs. Once they got through Ogremon, Demidevimon took the chance of being behind Ogremon by firing his dart attack towards the ogre's butt. Ogremon yowled in surprise, and Impmon made it worse with his Badda Booms. Finally they reached the window.

"No!!!" screamed Boogeymon, as both digimon leapt out of the window.

* * *

Running down Zero Mountain, neither Impmon nor Demidevimon looked back to see whether they were being followed or not. Time was at essence, and every second was valuable. They would waste time if they stopped to do so. Boogeymon, Ogremon and Leomon were all Champion digimon, any one of them would be able to defeat Impmon and Demidevimon in prolonged battle. It was only a brush of miracle that they managed to overpower Leomon and outsmart Ogremon back at the twin tower.

Nonetheless, all the luck they had seemed to be running out.

"Hold it right there!" a familiar voice barked towards them. Impmon and Demidevimon felt that their hearts nearly stopped beating in surprise as Ogremon leapt over them, and landed in front of them. His eyes were glinting, and he was scowling in annoyance.

"There's no escape now," he hissed.

"Not if I can help it!" Impmon shot back. "Badda Boom!"

Ogremon simply brushed the attack away, and charged towards the imp digimon. Impmon pushed Demidevimon out of the way, and gasped as his body was struck by Ogremon's bone cudgel. He rolled on the ground in pain, and Ogremon attempted to finish him off just like his master ordered. Demidevimon wasn't going to let that happen, and attacked Ogremon with his darts. This distracted Ogremon, but in the same time it made Ogremon went after him. Luckily Demidevimon had one advantage over the ogre; he could fly whereas Ogremon could not.

"Demi Dart!" summoned Demidevimon, attacking Ogremon again and again while Impmon struggled to get up and hide at a nearby bush.

Ogremon didn't realize Demidevimon's true intention and retaliated by delivering blows one after another. Demidevimon evaded all the attacks easily, being careful not to let Ogremon set his sight onto Impmon. When Impmon was nowhere in sight, Demidevimon felt relieved and began thinking of a way to outsmart Ogremon as the ogre digimon wasn't the one with the brains. Planning to use his Evil Whisper, Demidevimon began to concentrate hard and generated faint mist around Ogremon.

Unfortunately, the curse Ogremon was under had shielded him from falling under Demidevimon's attack. Ogremon was enraged that Demidevimon wanted to fool him, and threw his bone cudgel towards Demidevimon. The cudgel spun speedily like a wheel, and Demidevimon was struck hard by it. He fell onto the ground, right in front of Ogremon. Looking around, he finally realized that Impmon was no where in sight, and was angered for being outsmarted again. But in contrast with his feeling, Ogremon's face broke into a malicious grin as he knew of the right way to draw Impmon back out. Stepping onto Demidevimon, he extracted force onto his right leg to push Demidevimon into the earth.

"Come out, you little runt!" Ogremon growled, and thumped onto the semi-conscious Demidevimon. "Or I'll finish off your friend!"

Rustling sounds were heard from the nearby bush, and Impmon came out from it, limping.

"Don't… hurt him," said Impmon. "I'm warning you."

"That's something," laughed Ogremon. "Am I supposed to be intimidated? I think not! Pummel Whack!!"

Impmon was sent flying away towards a nearby tree, and crashed onto it. The attack was too powerful for the injured Rookie, and he coughed out purplish blood. Wheezing hard, Impmon felt too weak to fight back and slumped onto the ground. His vision was blurred and he passed out instantly.

Demidevimon began to cry, not being able to break free from Ogremon's feet. He heard everything that was going on, and knew that while Impmon was tough, even he couldn't survive such a strong blow. He pleaded for Ogremon not to hurt Impmon, but the ogre was cackling loudly to hear him. He struggled to break free, only to feel more force exerted from Ogremon to keep him in place.

Suddenly, bright white lights appeared and blinded his vision. Demidevimon had to close his eyes, and heard Ogremon screaming, sounding as if he was in pain. Noises were heard, but Demidevimon didn't hear it too clearly to recognize it. Opening his eyes again, he saw that Ogremon was no longer on him. A pair of hand scooped him up from the small hole he was in. The next thing Demidevimon saw was a pair of comforting violet eyes staring towards him with concern.

"Demidevimon… I'm so glad to find you!" said Kanto, and immediately inspected him. "Oh no! You're hurt!"

"Kanto… Impmon, he's the one who is hurt," said Demidevimon, registering the sudden crowd that appeared before him into his mind. On Kanto's sides were a boy and a girl whom he recognized as two of the Digidestined he saw back at Dokugumon's cave. Not quite far from them were two older boys; one of them was standing near a Grizzmon, while the other boy was calling out towards a Veedramon who was fighting Ogremon. Demidevimon was glad to see that Ogremon was having a very hard time fighting Veedramon.

Kanto frowned as he stood up and had a look around, clutching Demidevimon tight against his chest. Just as he was about to move, Kyubimon and Dinohumon landed on either his sides. Dinohumon was holding Impmon, who was dreadfully injured and unconscious. Trails of purple blood were evident on his mouth, his bandanna and gloves were burnt, scorch marks were everywhere on his body and the yellow round grinning face on his body was smeared with dirt and blood. Kanto gasped when he saw how badly Impmon's condition was.

"Kanto…" said Dinohumon, and his head fell. "I'm really sorry to break this to you, but…" Dinohumon became silent and landed Impmon gently on the grounds. "I'm afraid that he won't make it. He's too severely injured."

"No…" Kanto whispered.

"Impmon," said Demidevimon, breaking away from Kanto's hold. "Please answer me."

Impmon's eyes fluttered open weakly upon hearing Demidevimon's voice, and he struggled to let out a grin, which seemed to take much out of his remaining energy.

"Hey…" he wheezed weakly. "Demidevimon, you've… found our partner."

"Impmon… don't leave me," Demidevimon pleaded. "You're strong. You've always been there for me. Please don't go now."

"I don't… exactly…. have the right… to choose," Impmon choked out more blood as he said this. "Ogremon's attack… was too powerful."

"I've just met you," said Kanto, tears beginning to well up on his eyes. "It's not fair."

Impmon turned his green eyes to meet Kanto's. Despite his injuries, he looked calm.

"Kanto… I don't… deserve to be… your partner. I've done… too much bad things…. in the past."

"Don't say that," said Kanto. "Just hang on. You'll be cured in no time." As if to prove this, Kanto took out his Digivice and held it out towards Impmon. However the Digivice remained silent. "Why won't this thing work?" he exclaimed in frustration.

"It's not... meant to be, I guess. Promise me… one thing, Kanto," said Impmon urgently. "Take care… of Demidevimon… for me. Please."

Kanto nodded dejectedly, and knelt beside Impmon. Behind him, Kira was sobbing silently while Jon was struggling to hold his own tears back. Kyubimon and Dinohumon stood close to them, their faces sorrowful.

A loud roar was heard from Veedramon as he successfully defeated Ogremon, and forced the ogre digimon to retreat. Max, Veedramon, Darien and Grizzmon then joined the others, looking perplexed of seeing everyone looked grave and sad. They soon realized the reason.

"I will," promised Kanto.

"Then I'll have… no regrets," said Impmon and smiled serenely. Looking over towards Demidevimon, he frowned slightly. "Don't cry… for me, buddy. Even if I'm gone… part of me… will always be… with you."

"What do you mean?" Demidevimon asked between sobs.

"Listen. Like… I've said, I did…. too many bad things…. in the past. I would never…. be reconfigured."

"No! Don't make me do it, Impmon." Demidevimon protested, crying even harder. "Please…"

"You must. By doing this… I'll always… be with you… forever," Impmon panted.

"There is a chance that you will be reborn again, Impmon," said Kyubimon, who saw where this was going. "You are a destined digimon, Impmon."

"It's… the chance that… I don't want… to take," replied Impmon. "If Demidevimon… loaded my data, then I'll… live in him. This is… my last request."

"Impmon…" said Demidevimon forlornly. "I…"

"Just… say yes."

Demidevimon looked at the other digimon desperately; his eyes seemed to be pleading for their thoughts and opinions. All of them were silent before Kyubimon nodded slowly.

"I still don't agree with this, but Impmon is nevertheless right. We are not sure of his chances of being reconfigured. He has been under the service of Boogeymon for too long."

"He saved me! He protected me!" shouted Demidevimon, and cried again. "He's good! He's not evil. He doesn't deserve this. Boogeymon should be the one dying, not him! It's unfair."

"What Kyubimon is trying to say is that… Impmon has done more bad than good," Max interjected carefully. "There's a chance that he would be reborn again, but like he said, he doesn't want to take that chance."

"They're… right. Just… agree with me… on this one, Demidevimon," urged Impmon. "It is what… I want. Do this for me. I don't… have much time… left."

Impmon began to glimmer in faint white lights, and his legs began to dissolve slowly into data particles.

"Perhaps… one day, I'll have… the chance to live… again. Until then…"

Impmon closed his eyes as his body began to dissolve as well.

"No… Impmon!" cried Kanto. "No!!!"

"Demidevimon, Kanto… goodbye…" That was Impmon's last word before his face was disbanded into data bytes as well. His data particles, all purple in color, hovered around Kanto and Demidevimon as if anticipating themselves to be taken by Demidevimon. Kanto's Digivice began to glow, and Demidevimon finally closed his eyes and downloaded Impmon's data.

"Impmon," whispered Demidevimon. "We'll meet again… someday."

Kanto's Digivice let out silvery violet lights which enveloped Demidevimon all over. Demidevimon felt Impmon's data and powers within him beginning to propel him into new heights of power. It was a feeling he'd never imagined he would be experiencing all his life. Demidevimon's eyes turned into a greenish hue instead of yellow, which resembled Impmon's own eyes. Demidevimon then felt himself becoming more energized with powers that were coming from Kanto's Digivice, and realized what was going to happen.

"Demidevimon Digivolve to…"

Demidevimon's wings and feet began to expand into a pair of hands and legs, and a body formed in between of his head and his growing limbs. The furs on his head vanished, to be replaced with a face which was more humane. Yellow hair grew from it as a pair of ears appeared on the sides of his head. Demidevimon's limbs stopped growing and his slightly muscular body was revealed to be very much human-like as well. Baggy cream-colored clothes materialized on his body, and brown boots and gloves formed on his feet and hands, respectively. Red vest adorned itself on the baggy suit he was wearing. The skull tattoo on his forehead was removed, and at the same time purple cape and wizard-like hat came into sight. The skull tattoo was festooned on the hat as it placed itself onto Demidevimon's head. Finally, a wooden staff with the figure of the sun on its upper end appeared on his hand, and it erupted with lightning all around Demidevimon's new form. He was now called…

"Wizardmon!"

Wizardmon had his back turned against Kanto and the others. Slowly, he turned around and met the awed looks of the Digidestined and digimon. Kanto especially, was transfixed upon seeing the humanly digimon whose face was hidden behind the cape he was wearing which covered half of his face.

"Demidevimon… is it really you?" he whispered, unbelieving. "You look… human."

Wizardmon, whose face was hidden behind the cape he was wearing, slowly removed his right boot. On his pallid light blue ankle was a scar which Kanto recognized almost instantly. It was a mark resulted from Kanto himself, when he hit Demidevimon with a small stick not too long ago. The wound had healed and left a scar on Demidevimon's foot, and ended up on Wizardmon's ankle. Wizardmon then looked up and winked knowingly towards Kanto, and for a brief moment it seemed that he was smiling as well.

"It is you!" Kanto exclaimed happily, and the two of them embraced each other.

"Your Digivice and Impmon's power have given me the energy I needed to digivolve into my Champion form," Wizardmon informed him. "I am now Wizardmon, data type wizard digimon. Apart from my own attacks, which are Thunder Ball and Magical Game, I also possessed Impmon's signature attacks." Closing his eyes for a while, he whispered solemnly, "Rest in peace, Impmon. You're in good hands."

The others quickly circled around Kanto and Wizardmon, all evidently happy.

"Impmon is a very noble digimon," Kyubimon began. "With his sacrifice, he has completed the legends of the Digidestined. The team is now complete – five Digidestined and five digimon partners."

Wizardmon nodded. "I'm just sad that he is no longer around. I've never expected it to turn out this way."

"Impmon IS here, you know," said Kanto, evidently trying to cheer Wizardmon up. "He'll always be around. He lives in you, and he lives in me as well."

"He'll watch over the two of you," added Jon with a smile.

"Impmon will always be in our hearts," said Kira, her tear-stains still visible on her cheeks.

Wizardmon's eyes lit up. "Thank you," he said appreciatively. "Now, what do you all say if we eradicate Boogeymon once and for all, and I have a personal score to settle with Ogremon."

"That's more like it!" exclaimed Veedramon. "Lead the way."

* * *

**Review Comment:**

_Hahn_ – Thank you for reviewing, I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter. Notice any fore-shadowing in this chapter?


	9. Skirmish

**_LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED_**

**_Chapter 09 – Skirmish_**

**_--------------------------------------------------------------------------_**

Far from Zero Mountain and on the ocean surrounding Database Island, a grandiose sail ship was approaching the shore. The brightly-lit vessel was mainly black and blue in color, with four large white triangular sails set around the ship's four tall gleaming masts. The main mast, which was standing proud at the center of the ship, had a black flag depicting a human skull and a cross-bone on top of it. Anyone would easily recognize it as the symbol of the pirates, and that was what the Bane Buccaneer was called – a pirate ship.

"Blast those Niximon! If it weren't for them we won't be stuck on this foreign island!" came an angered shout from the deck of the ship.

Even though it was dark of the night, the faint lights from the moon had enlightened the reason of the angry shout. There were burnt marks across the wooden structure of the ship, and the cannons were in bad shapes. Two of those cannons seemed to be missing, judging by a couple of empty cannon platforms on the lower deck of the vessel. The upper deck was where the wheel-like navigator of the Bane Buccaneer at, and there stood a particularly infuriated digimon who was controlling the navigator wheel.

The digimon, dressed in blue outfit and white pants, was watching the ship's crew cleaning up the deck and making preparations to set the anchor at the beach. He was a strange-looking mon, with a black cannon molded on his left hand and a golden hook on his right. This digimon was called Hookmon, and he seemed to be the one with the authority around here.

"What is this place?" called Hookmon towards his crews, who were all seven in number. All of them were identical; all of them were small green monkeys dressed in yellow garb. Some of them were mopping the floor, a couple of them were preparing to set the anchor and one of them was perched on the long bowsprit of the ship was busy looking through a small telescope back and forth between the sky and the upcoming island. All of the crewmembers were called Koemon.

"I think we're approaching Database Island, captain Hookmon sir!" the Koemon with the telescope replied. He had a white triangular badge pinned on his yellow garb to mark him as the guide. On his left hand was a map, and he seemed to have already looked onto it before replying to Hookmon,

"We're way off course," said Hookmon, sounding irritated.

Another Koemon, wearing a blue scarf on his head, came up to Hookmon. This one served as a maintenance crew.

"Sir, it would take us approximately a couple of hours to repair the damages on the Bane Buccaneer," he reported.

"Is there a lot to be repaired?"

"Not really, captain. The only major damage is that the vessel's leaking at the basement. Water has been pouring in slightly, and the Koemon downstairs had a hard time trying to stop the leakage. We've managed to block the leaks temporarily. The wood supplies are depleting, so we need to send out a batch of Koemon to gather more woods. While we are here, it's probably best for us to find some food as well, the chef has been complaining of not having enough food materials to cook."

"Very well," said Hookmon gruffly. "Lower the rowboat, I want to explore this island in the meantime. Make sure the vessel's ready when I come back."

"Aye aye, captain!"

* * *

Boogeymon stepped out from his twin tower, no longer wanting to hide behind his twin towers. He wanted to meet the Digidestined face to face, and crumble them with his power. Though his opponents were foretold by the prophets of the Digital World to bring down all forces of evil, Boogeymon was undaunted. He had seen how the four earlier destined digimon fought, and knew that he was still superior in terms of power. Wizardmon, he decided, shouldn't be much of a problem as well.

Stepping out from the stone gates which surrounded his fort, Boogeymon observed a group of Rookie digimon under the supervision of Ogremon, setting up huge circular stones near a cliff behind the twin towers. He heard Ogremon cackling maniacally as he briefed out his plan towards the possessed group of green-skinned goblin like digimon who resembled Goburimon. They were called the Sharmamon. His curiosity got the better of him, Boogeymon sauntered over them.

"Planning something without me knowing of it?" he barked, surprising Ogremon and the Sharmamon.

Quickly bowing over to Boogeymon, Ogremon quickly explained his plan to him.

"I wouldn't dare do that, master. These stones will be used to crush those pesky Digidestined before they got the chance to come here!"

"A good plan," said Boogeymon thoughtfully. "It would be better if we can eliminate them as quickly as possible. But if they do manage to come here, then I will be ready to fight them. Nobody messes with me and gets away with it. Especially that blasted traitor."

With that, Boogeymon stomped away leaving Ogremon and his minions to carry on with their plan. His attention then was caught by a tall figure of a digimon whose body was flaring with orange fire, this digimon was called Meramon. With Meramon was a digimon who looked a lot like a red-skinned Ogremon – he was called Fugamon. Both digimon were fire-based Champion digimon. Both of them were hurling fireball towards each other, but they didn't seem to be fighting. It looked more like they were sparring.

Not too far from them were three icy digimon. One of them was a stout snowman called Frigimon, another resembled an abominable snowman who went by the name of Mojyamon, and the third one was a blue-skinned Ogremon called Hyogamon. The three of them together generated an icy chill which made Boogeymon shudder. Unlike Meramon and Fugamon, they didn't seem to be doing anything other than standing close to each other. Each and every one of them had a confused expression on their faces, and Boogeymon concluded that they must be those who had digivolved recently. Earlier, he had possessed a large number of Rookie digimon, and just now he had administered a portion of his own power to make them digivolve. They were all stationed to guard the twin tower and provide resistance for the Digidestined.

"With a number of strong digimon in my hand, there's no reason why I couldn't win the battle against the famed Digidestined," said Boogeymon wistfully.

Leomon then showed up at the gate, his body was badly bruised. He was defeated by Veedramon earlier, and was forced to retreat.

"Master, the Digidestined are on their way here," reported Leomon.

"I know it already, don't you know that I had seen everything that you saw while you're under my power?" snapped Boogeymon. "And I have to say that it was a disgrace for you to fail me so many times! I ought to destroy you now and rid myself of a useless burden, but fortunately for you I'm going to need every digimon I can to help me fight off those meddling children. You are once more excused, but this is your last chance. Fail me again, and I'll rip away your life. Got it?"

"I understand, master," answered Leomon dully. "I will not fail you again."

"Now, how far is the Digidestined from my tower?"

"I think that they are on their way here."

Ogremon and the Sharmamon suddenly shouted something in a strange language, which oddly sounded like battle cries. They announced that the Digidestined were all under the target of the stones, and if they rolled the stones over the cliff they would easily crush the Digidestined to their doom. Interested to see where this would go, Boogeymon permitted them to proceed.

* * *

In the meantime, the Digidestined and their now-completed five digimon partners were ascending the Zero Mountain. The path that led them to the peak seemed to be spiraling around the mountain. Throughout the journey, none of them talked much to each other. Each was too buried deep in thoughts of recent events that happened. Wizardmon had taken it upon himself to lead the others towards the twin towers as he alone knew the way, using his staff to give out lights to guide their journey. It had been a clear night, but around the mountain thick dark clouds were hovering over the tip of the mountain, blocking the moon and the stars. And with two gleaming red towers piercing the blacken sky… they helped them to stay focused on their mission, and they served as a great reminder for them not to lose the battle. Those towers were the symbol of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes, the plague which had invaded the island for so long. Many had fallen into its irrefutable power, and the Digidestined were saddened by the fact that a close friend, mentor and ally had also fallen.

"I can't believe it! Now Leomon's also under the curse!" muttered Max dejectedly. He kicked a small stone on the ground furiously and sighed.

"What are we going to do? We can't delete him," said Kira despairingly, looking towards her partner. "He's our friend."

Kyubimon shook her head sadly. "We all know what would happen to possessed digimon. Either we delete them, or…"

"No!" Kanto protested. "No more… I've seen enough. I don't want to delete any more digimon that has fallen victim under the curse. There must be another way."

"I understand how you feel, Kanto," said Kyubimon. "Leomon is MY mentor; I especially do not want to see him being deleted. But now he is a danger to us. We have no choice."

"No… surely there's another way," said Kanto stubbornly. "After Impmon… I don't want to lose another friend again."

"I agree with Kanto," said Jon. "I also don't want to see unnecessary deletion of digimon."

"The only digimon I want to see being deleted now is that Boogeymon," said Max darkly. "He's the reason behind all this. It's him we should delete."

"Perhaps there is another way," said Wizardmon suddenly, and thoughtfully as if he wasn't really sure of it.

"There is?" asked Darien. "Let's hear it then."

"I believe so. Apparently Impmon didn't tell me everything he knows," replied Wizardmon pensively. "But thanks to his knowledge, there just might be another way to save all those possessed digimon without deleting them."

"Spill it already, Wizardmon," urged Kanto.

"Spill?" wondered Wizardmon, slightly confused. "Spill what?"

Kanto blushed slightly. "It's a term we use between friends… it's for asking a person to tell what he or she knows about something."

"Interesting. I will… spill," said Wizardmon uncertainly, earning a strained smile from Kanto and the other four Digidestined. "Have I said it wrong?"

"No… not really. Please continue."

"Very well. Like I said earlier, there is another way for us to save those digimon. Impmon apparently had overheard Boogeymon chanting the spell to activate the Curse of the Crimson Eyes. Not aware that Impmon was watching, Boogeymon had let slip that the only way for a cursed digimon to free itself from it is by removing the source of the curse itself."

"And what would the source of the curse be?" asked Kyubimon.

Wizardmon's expression became dark. "The source of the curse is… Boogeymon himself."

"Well that's easy! Aren't we going to do just that?" said Grizzmon.

"Yeah," Dinohumon agreed. "After we take care of Boogeymon, then all of the cursed digimon will be free."

"Nothing's so simple," said Wizardmon. "Boogeymon recently had acquired a number of Rookie digimon, and from what Impmon had been hearing, he was planning to have them digivolve to fight us off. He believed that the digimon who are possessed since they were Rookies will become stronger than those who are acquired when they have already digivolved."

"There's logic at that," agreed Jon.

"So it's gonna be a big battle ahead," said Kira.

"Hopefully, it's gonna be the final battle," said Darien.

Wizardmon nodded and was about to continue when he saw strange shadows suddenly appeared before them. What was causing the shadow seemed to be coming from the sky, and by looking up Wizardmon immediately realized the danger. A number of massive stones were zooming down from the sky, and they were going to be crushed if someone didn't do something to stop those stones.

"Take cover!" he cried, and aimed his staff upwards while the other four digimon quickly defended their partners. "Magical Game!"

The staff Wizardmon was holding suddenly radiated bright violet lights all over the air, and sent some lightning sparks towards the sky. He then muttered something which sounded like a spell done in haste, and the sparks all blasted towards the stones. For a moment, everybody was expecting the stones to explode, making them close their eyes. But no explosion was heard, and no showers of stone particles resulted from Wizardmon's attack. Curiously though there was a faint scent of soap, which made all of them open their eyes again. What they saw completely took them by surprise.

"You turned the stones into… bubbles?" asked Kanto disbelievingly as a big transparent soap bubble popped on his outstretched hands harmlessly.

"Brilliant, isn't it?" replied Wizardmon proudly. "And it's my first time, too."

"You can say that again," said Kanto with a smile. "Although I kind of expecting the stones to be blown up."

"I prefer to use a non-violent way when it is necessary," stated Wizardmon calmly.

Kanto nodded, remembering clearly that Demidevimon wasn't the one who loved fighting. It seemed that the trait was dominantly passed on Wizardmon.

"I wonder where those stones were come from?" asked Kira, looking up.

"Boogeymon, no doubt," answered Wizardmon, his intonation darkened suddenly. "We're nearing Boogeymon's lair. Look up there," he said and pointed with his staff upwards. Everyone could see that they were now right below the peak of the mountain. A clearing was visible up there, even from where they were standing. They could make out shouting sounds, sounding peeved due to their failure of eliminating the Digidestined with those stones. Two red and black towers streaked the sky, and lightning rumbles over the sky around the towers.

"We're almost there," said Jon, shuddering.

"Let's move it," announced Wizardmon, and all of them resumed their journey.

* * *

"So the turncoat is stronger than he seems, is he?" Boogeymon growled silently, watching the whole scene with his unique ability. His eyes then stopped glowing scarlet, and his face broken to a smile. "Maybe I'll send them a welcoming committee."

Calling out for all his army of cursed digimon, he instructed each and every one of them to go down the mountain and intercept the Digidestined before they could even reach the mountain. Boogeymon knew quite well that while the digimon he had controlled were powerful, but the Digidestined by far were stronger. He hadn't dream of relying on them to stop the Digidestined, but maybe they could weaken his foes a little before they would meet him. And silently, Boogeymon had also hoped that the Digidestined would make it, as he wanted to test out his own power against them. With his power, experience and support from the other Legion of Darkness, Boogeymon was sure that he would win.

"Come over and play," he said scornfully and laughed. "I'll be waiting."

* * *

As they were getting closer to the twin towers, the Digidestined grew more solemn. They knew what was lying ahead, and there was no turning back. Should they lose, it would be the end of everything. The digimon however, were more optimistic. They were determined to give their all to eradicate Boogeymon and his infamous curse away from Database Island once and for all.

"Cheer up, everyone," said Grizzmon. "There's no way we're going to lose. Our team is already completed, the legends has been fulfilled."

"We're destined to win," agreed Veedramon.

"I know that," said Max. "I'm just thinking of each and every possibility and outcome from this battle."

"Yeah, it'll be great if we're going to win," said Darien. "But what happens…"

"Don't even think about it," Wizardmon cut in quickly. "That's exactly what Boogeymon wants from us. As long as we're together, we'll pull through."

"And one other thing," added Kyubimon. "Part of our powers comes from our partners. Have confidence in us, and we will do whatever it takes to win. Should you lose confidence in us, then we will be weakened."

"Right," agreed Dinohumon. "It's like a saying we used to hear – together we stand."

"And divided we fall," continued Jon thoughtfully. "You're right, Dinohumon. Thanks for pointing that out for us."

"I guess all of us are just scared because none of us have been through all this before," admitted Kira. "The whole 'saving the world' thing has never come across my mind before, but now… it's happening too fast, but I have to admit that I won't miss it for the world."

"Yeah, I've to say that it's a big responsibility," agreed Darien. "But it's not a burden. We've come far enough until now."

"Nicely said," said Max, his expression brightened a little. "I couldn't have agreed more."

"Me too," said Kanto.

"That's the spirit," said Wizardmon with a smile. "Now, all of us are ready to fight. Look!" he said, pointing forward. Not too far from them were the twin towers, surrounded by stone gates. A horde of possessed digimon stood outside the gate, led by Leomon and Ogremon. They all looked ready for battle.

"An unwelcoming commission," muttered Max. "How nice."

"Looks like Boogeymon is prepared to face us," said Veedramon. "They don't look so tough."

"Remember that we now have an option of not killing them," warned Wizardmon. "Just knock them out unconscious if possible."

"What's our chance?" asked Kanto, scanning the large group of digimon. "There's too many of them."

"Right, we need a strategy," said Dinohumon.

"Well…" replied Kyubimon, looking over the cursed digimon. "Leomon is a Vaccine while Ogremon is a Virus. It is pretty obvious that they are the strongest of the lot. Either Dinohumon, Wizardmon or I is an ideal candidate to fight Leomon, as the three of us are Data types."

"Hold it. What do you mean by having advantages over Leomon for being Data types?" asked Max.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask the same thing ever since I heard about this Vaccine, Data and Virus types," said Jon.

"It is what I learnt from Leomon," answered Kyubimon. "Vaccine types can overpower Virus types should they be in the same level of power and experience. Virus types have advantage over Data types, and the same goes to Data types over Vaccine types."

"Let me get this straight," said Darien. "Let's say you and Grizzmon are of the same level of power and experience. Does that mean that you have an advantage over him?"

"That's putting it mildly," said Grizzmon quickly, blushing. "But that's not usually the case. It usually depends on the digimon themselves."

"True," said Kyubimon. "It depends on certain circumstances. Based on your example, it is true that I possess an advantage over Grizzmon, but Grizzmon possesses more brute strength than me. This put the two of us as evenly matched should we decide to battle each other. And luck, I have to add, plays a high role as well," she said as an afterthought.

"So, back to strategizing our moves," said Jon. "Either Dinohumon, Kyubimon or Wizardmon should battle Leomon."

"I'll go," Dinohumon offered. "I don't think that Kyubimon wants to fight her mentor, and we'll need Wizardmon's mystical power for battling Boogeymon."

"Leomon is a strong digimon for a Champion," Kyubimon said quietly. "I think it is best if I go along with Dinohumon and face Leomon together."

"If that's all right with you," replied Dinohumon. "What do you think, Wizardmon?"

"I'm planning to fight against the other possessed digimon," said the wizard digimon. "Maybe I can knock them off before they do any harm to us."

"There are a few Virus types over there other than Ogremon," stated Veedramon. "One of us will deal with Ogremon while the other will fight off the others. I think I'll fight Ogremon while Grizzmon will fight those Ogremon look-alikes."

Grizzmon agreed, and so they all marched towards the twin towers with full determination. Alerted, the possessed digimon quickly charged towards the Digidestined upon command from Leomon and Ogremon. Seeing that the possessed digimon would easily be crippled if Leomon and Ogremon were defeated, as they acted upon the lion and the ogre's commands, Kyubimon, Dinohumon and Veedramon quickly sprinted past them.

Kyubimon opened the attack towards Leomon with Fox Tail Inferno, followed by Dinohumon's Autumn Exorcism. Both attacks blasted against Leomon's body, but didn't cause much physical harm for the lion. Instead, he retaliated with his Fist of the Beast King but the destined digimon easily evaded the attack. This gave them another opening, and they used the same attacks to attack Leomon over and over again. Leomon proved to be stronger than any of them, but by attacking together they soon overpowered Leomon. Their big chance came when Leomon lunged towards Dinohumon, who had planned to distract him to give an opening for Kyubimon to deliver her attack. Kyubimon glided towards Leomon from behind with her Dragon Wheel attack, followed closely by Dinohumon's Lizard Dance. Both attacks proved to be too much for the lion man to handle, and he succumbed into unconsciousness.

Grizzmon tackled both Meramon and Fugamon, his massive structure giving him the upper hand. He was wary of Meramon, a Data type digimon, but he had worked up a plan to beat the flame man digimon. He purposely exposed himself for an attack, and received blows from both the fire type digimon. Meramon's attacks had hurt him, but at the same time he felt more and more energized. When his body glowed with red aura, Grizzmon delivered his Counter Attack and rammed Meramon with brute strength, and slapped his paw onto Meramon's face. It successfully knocked Meramon out. Then, with a well-aimed Crescent Dawn, Grizzmon defeated Fugamon as well.

Wizardmon, the least experienced fighter among the five of them, had quite a hard time dealing with Hyogamon, Frigimon and Mojyamon altogether. Peaceful in nature, Wizardmon resorted in using various magical tricks against his opponents. Using his Magical Game, he had immobilized Frigimon and Mojyamon, but the attack had no effect against the Virus type Hyogamon. The ice ogre pummeled him on the chest with his ice club, causing the young wizard to choke out blood slightly. Angered, he blasted Hyogamon with his Thunder Blast attack, which consisted of a powerful thunder-shock generated from his staff. The attack paralyzed Hyogamon, and another dose of it knocked Hyogamon out. Then, Wizardmon strengthened his immobilizing spell over Frigimon and Mojyamon, and used the Magical Game technique again to make them sleep.

In the meantime, Veedramon and Ogremon were evenly matched in their scuffle. Veedramon had fired his V Nova Blast, but Ogremon countered it with his cudgel. As the fierce brawl come into a close, both digimon were injured greatly but it was becoming more evident who was stronger. Ogremon was outmatched by the larger Veedramon, and finally a well-placed Hammer Punch on the chest caused Ogremon to pass out.

Wizardmon then revealed another useful ability which benefited them greatly. He cast a healing spell to all of them, and all the injuries they had been inflicted in the recent fray were gone. They felt fresher, energized and ready for the ultimate battle.

* * *

Hookmon was walking blindly until he reached a strange village which to him, looked like a toy-land. He recognized the pattern of Primary Village instantly, and remembered being inside the same village a long time ago. It was a different Primary Village located elsewhere. As it was still a few hours before daybreak, Hookmon assumed that all of the occupants of the village were still in their deep sleep. Not wanting to disturb them, Hookmon slowly turned away to the direction which he came from, when suddenly a small digimon accosted him.

"Hold it right there. Just where do you think you're going?" it demanded.

Hookmon looked at the digimon closely and recognized it as a Tokomon. "Easy there, I don't mean any harm."

"I've never seen you before," stated Tokomon suspiciously. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I'm Hookmon… Captain Hookmon," the pirate introduced himself. "My ship, the Bane Buccaneer, needs to be repaired and this island is as close as we can get. Currently my crew is in the process of repairing the ship, and I have decided to get acquainted with the locals of this island."

Tokomon looked at Hookmon as if he didn't understand a word he was saying. Nevertheless, he responded civilly.

"I'm Tokomon, and I'm responsible in taking care of Primary Village when Elecmon is absent."

"Elecmon? Is he your leader?"

"What are you talking about? We don't have any leader around here; Elecmon is the caretaker of this village."

"I see," said Hookmon. "So who is in charge of this island? The one with the full authority around here? I would really like to meet him."

"Well, I don't know about that," replied Tokomon. "We have no leader around here… but if you're looking for the one with the authority, I'd say that it was that evil digimon who resided on top of Zero Mountain. He's been enslaving innocent digimon around here for quite a long time already. But then a group of humans from another world had come here recently, and right now they are going to challenge Boogeymon and possibly defeat him once and for all."

This statement sparked Hookmon's interest.

"Humans, you say?" he asked. "You mean real humans? Not human-shaped digimon such as myself?"

"Of course they are real humans. In fact, they are the Digidestined," replied Tokomon impatiently. "Haven't you heard of them?"

"Uh… not from where I came from," answered Hookmon.

"Oh. I thought everyone knows about them. The legends have predicted their arrival and that they will save our world from the Legion of Darkness."

"Really? Then I would really love to meet them."

"Then you'll have to wait for them to come back. Have a seat. I have to tend to my task; some of these young ones have the habit of getting up too early. I wonder where Elecmon is. It's not like him to run off without any reason, especially without informing me first of his whereabouts," said Tokomon apologetically.

"Don't let me be a bother to you, then," said Hookmon. "I'll take my leave now. I have to go anyway, but thank you for the information and the invitation."

"There's no trouble. See you around later."

As Tokomon ran off to inspect the toddlers, Hookmon walked away from the village and decided to go back to his ship. There was something he had to do. His eyes glinted and his hidden face broke into a smile.

"So the famed Digidestined are here after all. Dragomon will definitely be keen to hear about this."


	10. First Victory

**_LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED_**

**_Chapter 10 – First Victory_**

**_--------------------------------------------------------------------------_**

"And so they come," murmured Boogeymon as his vision was temporarily blinded by blackness before returning back to normal. With all his minions knocked out by the Digidestined, he had lost all his means to see the world outside his fortress. He still did have some control over various digimon throughout the island, but it would be useless in his purpose now. Impervious, he stood himself straight with poise, and waited patiently for his adversaries to cross over the gate to face him. He would let them know that he was undaunted. He would prove that he was the one who would reign supreme over the island. And, he had one last surprise for them.

"There he is!" Boogeymon's head snapped up as he saw five adolescents coming into his view, with their partner digimon following them from behind.

"That I am," he said, and his voice echoed all over the area. "Finally we meet, Digidestined. I've been waiting for your arrival."

"That's Boogeymon?" muttered Darien in disbelief. "He looks… like a cartoon character!"

"FOOLS!" barked Boogeymon. "How DARE you insult me! You're here in my domain, and there's no turning back. You've stepped into a trap, and there will be no other end for all of you other than perish in my hand."

Boogeymon raised his trident and suddenly the whole fort was instantly covered with a magical blue dome, from the grounds until the highest tips of the tall twin towers. The dome crackled with white electricity, and let out a soft buzzing noise. The Digidestined tried touching the force field, only to be ending up being mildly electrocuted.

"Ouch!" cried Kira, rubbing her right palm with her left one. "That hurts!"

"I won't do that if I were you," said Boogeymon gleefully. "It will shock you to death if you touch them longer than you had just now. Now I have all of you trapped inside my domain. There's no escape from me."

"We'll break free of your stupid force field after we've done with you!" declared Max loudly.

"Do as you like," replied Boogeymon with his sardonic smile. "That is, if you can keep up with the amount of air inside this dome. Digimon don't need such ridiculous thing as air, but from what I gather air is essential for you foolish human. This dome has sealed everything inside here from being in contact with outside. Without air, the five of you will perish, and so will your partners as soon as you wilt."

"Is he serious? We need oxygen to breathe!" said Jon frantically.

"We'll battle him as quickly as we can," Dinohumon promised. "When he's gone, surely this dome will disappear as well."

"Are you sure?" asked Jon.

"Trust us," assured Dinohumon.

Quickly, the five destined digimon leapt towards Boogeymon, attacking together at once. Veedramon fired his V Nova Blast, followed by Grizzmon with his Crescent Dawn. Then Kyubimon morphed into a blue dragon specter and glided towards Boogeymon, with mystical autumn leaves swirling around her courtesy of Dinohumon. To add up with the attacks, Wizardmon generated several thunderbolts from his staff to electrocute Boogeymon. However, before any of those attacks could reach Boogeymon, the satanic digimon's eyes glowed bright scarlet and the intrinsic violet tattoos on his body glimmered.

"Ruby Eye!" he bellowed, sending rays of crimson lights from his eyes towards his opponents, hitting each and every one of them while nullifying all attacks at once. All of the destined digimon tumbled onto the grounds with their chests scorched by Boogeymon's attack.

"Let's try again!" shouted Veedramon. He quickly got up and instigated himself towards Boogeymon, showering him with quick punches. Boogeymon proved to be an equally good fighter as he received a punch with one hand, while evading another with his trident. Being smaller, Boogeymon was quicker than the bigger Veedramon, and his flying ability gave him an edge over the dragon digimon. Using his trident, he pierced Veedramon's skin at various places, causing the dragon to roar in pain before slapping the devil hard on the face. Boogeymon was about to retaliate when Veedramon's tail was slammed on his body. Angrily Boogeymon generated his Death Clash attack and blasted Veedramon on the chest, severely injuring the dragon. The mighty Veedramon then was toppled onto the ground, with bluish-white blood trickling out from his wound sites, while Boogeymon himself had small amount of blackened blood trickling from his mouth. However, the demon was smiling mockingly towards his defeated opponent.

"Weakling," he spat. "It's the end for you now!"

Boogeymon hovered closer to Veedramon, pointing his trident exactly towards his heart.

"No! Veedramon!" cried Max, quickly rushing to his partner and jumped in front of the dragon. He now stood between the trident and Veedramon.

"Max… what are you doing? Move!" said Veedramon.

"No!" yelled Max. "I won't let him hurt you!"

Boogeymon sneered. "Suit yourself. If you're so impatient to die, then let me do the honors to assist you. Death…"

"Dragon Wheel!"

A blue-white dragon spirit suddenly blasted Boogeymon from behind, causing him to lose his aim of his trident. Kyubimon then materialized from the specter as she dropped on all fours onto the ground, and glared towards Boogeymon with her piercing blue eyes. Seeing that Boogeymon was still disoriented from the effect of her attack, she quickly lit all the tips of her nine tails, and attacked Boogeymon again with multiple white fireballs. They hit Boogeymon at close range, but to her surprise, they had barely hurt him.

"It cannot be!"

"Stupid fox!" spat Boogeymon angrily, rising to his feet. "Death Clash!"

Kyubimon tried to jump away to avoid the attack, but Boogeymon was quicker as he maneuvered himself with unrivalled agility to follow Kyubimon's movement. As the result she was blasted by hundreds of sharp energy projectiles generated by both Boogeymon's staff and wings, nearly knocking her out. She attempted to rise again and fight, but the severe attack took the toll onto her and she slumped back down, weakened.

"Let this be a reminder for anyone who dares to interfere me again," warned Boogeymon before turning back towards Veedramon. "Now, where was I?"

But before he could start generating his attack, the rumblings of the ground signaled to him that someone was approaching him again. It was Grizzmon, with Dinohumon surfing on his blades beside of him.

"We're not done yet, Boogeymon!" shouted Grizzmon, and fired his Crescent Dawn.

"Autumn Exorcism!" followed Dinohumon.

The two strong attacks knocked Boogeymon off his feet, causing the demon to be sent crashing on the ground. Not letting an opportunity to pass, Grizzmon soared onto the air and attempted to crush Boogeymon with his heavy weight. But Boogeymon quickly rolled up and fired his Ruby Eye straight towards the looming bear, stinging him on the body. The surprise attack caused Grizzmon to shriek in pain, and he lost his balance, causing him to fall back on the ground with a loud thud. Boogeymon got up and grinned with malice.

"When will you all ever learn?" he said mockingly, brushing up dirt and soil from his wings. He watched warily as Dinohumon readied his blades.

"We'll never give up!" declared Dinohumon. "Lizard Dance!"

Boogeymon quickly used his trident to counter Dinohumon's blades. The two fought it out for a while, and for a moment Boogeymon looked flustered as Dinohumon continuously slashing his blades onto him. He struggled to protect himself with his trident until he saw a flaw on Dinohumon's attack. With a simple yet forceful forward thrust of his trident, Boogeymon had captured two of Dinohumon's many blades, and wielded them to face Dinohumon. Brutally he slashed Dinohumon across the torso, causing the dino-man to roll onto the ground in pain.

Wizardmon stared in horror towards his fallen comrades, and quickly readied himself as Boogeymon turned his attention towards him.

"Now, all of your friends have fallen," said Boogeymon. "I'm giving you a chance now not to end up like them. Join me, and I'll spare your life. Challenge me and you will suffer the same fates as the others."

Gulping, Wizardmon took a step forward. "I'll take my chances."

"Then you are as brave as you are foolish," replied Boogeymon.

"You killed Impmon," said Wizardmon with more confidence. "I will avenge his death."

"Surely there's a misunderstood here," said Boogeymon with a sneer. "As I recall, it was you who absorbed his data."

"Yes, as he wished before he died," answered Wizardmon slowly, but then he added loudly the next sentence. "You have been controlling innocent digimon to do your every bidding, stripping them away of their free wills. You forced them to go against their nature. This will end here, and now, I'll make sure of that."

"Ungrateful turncoat! Have you forgotten who had taken you in, when no one would accept you? You're a misfit, and it was me who took you under my wings and granted you power to digivolve! Without me, you will still be the worthless, sniveling, black Poyomon!"

"You are an evil being, Boogeymon. I shall have no qualm in fighting you, even if you did raise me, although you've never cared for me. For the sake of my friends, this island, and all the Digital World, I will make sure that your reign ends here!"

Wizardmon then chanted a protective spell to protect himself from any of Boogeymon's attack. His body was coated with an invisible yellow light, which let out a faint glow. He looked totally enchanting with the yellow aura covering his body. His green eyes fixed with grim determination, Wizardmon then raised his staff onto the air, and called out his first attack.

"Thunder Blast!"

The sun-shaped end of the staff crackled with jolts of electricity, and burst in yellow sparks of lights. Wizardmon swung his staff forward and charged towards Boogeymon, and fired the attack on the demon. Boogeymon quickly used his trident to block the attack, and soon the two were involved in a fierce brawl. Boogeymon launched his signature attack, but the aura around the young wizard blocked the attack from harming him. Wizardmon then retaliated with Magical Game, generating out spheres of green magical fire onto Boogeymon's face. The demon screamed in agony, and kicked Wizardmon forcefully on the stomach. Then suddenly Wizardmon's aura faded, his spell could only last for a short period of time.

"Luck be with me," said Boogeymon with a grin. "Ruby Eye!"

This time, Wizardmon received the full blow of the attack and yelled loudly as the red laser attack penetrated his clothes, burning a hole through it before making way to his body. Wizardmon jumped away as quickly as possible and deflected the laser back at Boogeymon with his staff. Quickly he muttered a spell to heal himself from Boogeymon's attack, and the wound inflicted on his chest was slowly cured. However to his astonishment, the wound didn't cure completely. No more blood was trickling from it, but Wizardmon could still feel the sharp pain coming from it. He frowned, and realized that Boogeymon's power was far too great compared to himself. He took a deep breath, and prepared for another round.

"Do you think Wizardmon is a match for Boogeymon?" asked Jon.

Kanto nodded. "I have full confidence in him. He'll win this."

"Our own partners aren't doing so well," observed Darien. "They're hurt badly."

"Is it just me… or the air is feeling stuffy?" asked Kira, rubbing her throat. "It's so hard to breathe…"

"The air!" exclaimed Jon. "It's depleting. The dome is blocking all the air and we don't have much time. I.. I'm having difficulty in breathing…"

Max frowned. "Man! We're not coming here only to die because of out of air! There must be something we can do."

"Wizardmon!" cried Kanto, his face paled considerably as he clutched his throat as well.

The wizard heard the call of his partner, and realized what was going on. The Digidestined were in grave danger. He had to finish the battle quickly.

"Boogeymon! Remove the dome, now!" he growled. "It's me you want to battle, not them!"

Boogeymon's face contorted into a sinister grin. "Perhaps you don't understand my intentions yet, Wizardmon. I plan to eliminate all of you, and that means including the Digidestined of yours as well. Why do you think I erected this dome in the first place? Humans and their need of air… hah! It'll be the end of them. How ironic, don't you think?"

"Thunder Blast!" shouted Wizardmon, and aimed his attack towards the force-field. His attack was deflected by the dome, without causing a dent on it.

"It's useless to attempt to destroy it, Wizardmon," said Boogeymon, smiling evilly.

"Wizardmon…" Wizardmon paled upon hearing his partner's pleas, which was sounding weaker and more desperate. He wouldn't be able to destroy the dome. Then, one by one, the Digidestined began to drop on their knees. Their faces were pale and sweaty, and they looked as if they were struggling to hold their breaths. Over the background, Boogeymon was laughing gleefully, enjoying the whole ordeal. The other destined digimon, aware of their partners' plights, quickly struggled to get up from the ground. As hastily as they could possibly move, the four of them gathered together near a wall of barrier, and used the lasts of their powers to generate a powerful attack onto the barrier. The barrier crackled temporarily as the attacks collided with it, before a huge explosion ensued and the barrier was gone. A powerful rush of air resulted, and slowly but gradually, the Digidestined were able to breathe again. Then, the four destined digimon de-digivolved back into their Rookie forms as they had used out all of their powers.

"It can't be," muttered Boogeymon angrily. "IT CANNOT BE!!"

Not only Boogeymon was angry, but Wizardmon now was trembling in fury. His green eyes blazed and his teeth gritted together.

"How dare you…" he muttered. "They were almost killed! I won't forgive you for such a vile act!"

ToyAgumon, Bearmon, Renamon and Kotemon were momentarily dazed, not knowing what to do as they had reverted into Rookies. They struggled to get on their feet again and made their way towards Wizardmon. It was then that ToyAgumon remembered something.

"The powers from Tentomon and the others," he said. "We still have them. We've lost our powers, but their powers remain in us. Let's use it now!"

"How exactly are we going to do so?" Renamon demanded wryly.

"I don't know," replied ToyAgumon. "Let's gather around Wizardmon, he's the only Champion left. Maybe he can call upon the power and use it to battle that demon."

Renamon was silent, thinking of the possibility that ToyAgumon's hasty plan could actually work. But it was Kotemon and Bearmon who voiced their agreements, and together they made their way towards Wizardmon. As they approached Wizardmon, suddenly their bodies began to glow in bright white lights. Wizardmon was puzzled by the sudden event, but he himself was glowing as well.

"I knew it would work," said ToyAgumon happily.

"What's going on?" asked Wizardmon.

"Wizardmon, you are our only hope left. Gather our powers together and deliver the final blow to that horrid demon now!" said Renamon.

Wizardmon nodded, and began chanting a spell while having his staff rising upwards. Thunders began to crackle on the sky as their bodies glowed brilliantly together. At the same time, the Digidestined found out that their Digivices were also pulsing, and quickly they took them out from their pockets and aimed towards their partners. The Digivices then let out beams of white lights, engulfing all the destined digimon except for Wizardmon. The four destined digimon felt their powers leaving them, and as they grew smaller they watched the white lights entering Wizardmon's body. The young wizard digimon glimmered brilliantly and hovered over the air. Then, like a flash of lightning he made a rush towards Boogeymon, who had to cover his eyes due to the blinding light. Wizardmon felt himself changing; he was growing taller and stronger, and his staff morphed into a magnificent silver sword.

"What's all this!" demanded Boogeymon, covering his eyes with his hands. "Where are all this lights coming from?"

Wizardmon's new silver sword blazed with fire as he was getting closer to Boogeymon. He roared a loud cry and made a forceful clean slash towards Boogeymon before zooming past him. Boogeymon didn't feel a thing at first, but then he recoiled in horror as he saw what Wizardmon's attack had done to him. His trident was broken into half, and was beginning to decompose into data particles. He then looked down and saw that his body was cut in half over the abdomen region; there was a trail of fine white lining on his stomach. Boogeymon screamed as he felt himself decomposing from the insides. Red data particles left his body, and slowly Boogeymon realized that he was nearing his end.

"I'm not alone!" he shouted desperately as he felt his life fading away. "There will be more of the Legion of Darkness out there! They will avenge my death! Good can never prevail. Evil shall reign supreme!" With that, he laughed a maniacal laugh. It was a haunting laughter, from one that had lost all hope but full of determination for revenge. It sent shivers down the spine of everyone around there.

Wizardmon felt himself shrinking back to his original size, and that his silver sword had turned back into his sun staff. He looked at Boogeymon with grim satisfaction, as data left the demon's body and legs. Only his head was visible, and Boogeymon was still smiling. It was a sinister smile, and for a moment Wizardmon felt himself shuddering.

"This is not the end, Digidestined!" he vowed, and closed his eyes as the last remaining of him flew all over the air. "This is NEVER the end!" echoed his voice all over the air. Then, the twin towers began to crumble down towards the ground and combusted into blacken data particles as well. Digidestined and digimon were momentarily stunned until it dawned to them; they were victorious! They had banished Boogeymon. Database Island was finally freed from the forces of evil.

"We've won!" Kira, Jon and Kanto shouted happily, and rushed to retrieve their partners, with Max and Darien following closely behind.

The white lights faded, and four smaller digimon emerged from where ToyAgumon, Bearmon, Renamon and Kotemon used to be. One of them was a round pink ball with expressive red eyes and long pink ears. The second one was an orange furball with a straight grey-black horn on his head and a pair of red-brown eyes. The third one was a purple digimon wearing a two-horned metallic helmet. He also had red-brown eyes and a bushy tail striped with purple and white. And finally, the fourth digimon was slightly different from the others. While it was the same tiny size as the others, it was standing on its four stubby legs, while the others had no legs at all. It had clear blue eyes, yellow fur and a bushy tail.

"Hi!" all the four smaller digimon greeted exuberantly while Wizardmon nodded with a smile. "We did it!!"

They promptly introduced themselves as the In-training forms of ToyAgumon, Bearmon, Renamon and Kotemon. The pink ball was Koromon, the digimon with the horn was Tsunomon, the yellow digimon with stubby legs was Viximon and the purple digimon with a helmet was Kapurimon.

"You guys look so cute," commented Kira as Viximon went to her. She lifted Viximon up and hugged her.

"Congratulations," said Jon, and picked up Kapurimon. "You're the greatest!"

"Wizardmon?" Kanto called, and the wizard promptly went to him. "Just now… you've changed. You were taller, and you had a sword. Did you digivolve?"

"I'm not sure," answered Wizardmon. "I've never heard of any level past Champion. Maybe there is, but I've never met any. But back then, all I know was to defeat Boogeymon and free this island. Somehow the white lights had given me all the power I needed."

"And took away ours," chirped Koromon, who was now being held by Max. "Not that I mind though, I haven't been in this form for so long."

"Me too," said Viximon thoughtfully. "I have been Renamon for nearly a year now. This is the first time I devolved back to my In-training form."

"Not us," said Kapurimon brightly. "Tsunomon and I digivolved into Bearmon and Kotemon only a month before you guys arrived."

"Hey, look up there!" cried Tsunomon excitedly. The others paid heed to his call, and saw that the data particles from Boogeymon and the twin towers were spiraling against each other. Boogeymon's data were red in color, while his towers were black.

"What do we do with those data?" asked Koromon.

Wizardmon replied with a sigh. "They are too corrupted. Perhaps I should destroy them with my spell."

The data suddenly were suspended into the air, held by invisible forces. Before the Digidestined and the digimon could figure out what was going on, the coiled data crumbled onto the ground, and were absorbed by the grounds.

"There you go, the solution for the data. I suppose there is no harm from this?" said Max.

"I don't think so," answered Wizardmon uncertainly. "I certainly hope so, though."

"Hey, by this way we're sure for real that Boogeymon isn't going to come back ever again," said Kapurimon cheerfully.

"Remember what he said when he was going to be deleted?" asked Tsunomon. "What did he mean by saying that he wasn't alone? Are there more of him out there?"

"Great, there goes our ticket to going back home," Darien murmured silently. When Tsunomon looked up to him, he quickly thought of something to amend his sentence. "What I meant was… I thought we're going to go back home after Boogeymon is defeated. But since there's more of him out there… wherever there is… maybe we should stick around some more. Right?"

"Right you are, brother," said Kira. "What are we going to do now?"

"Maybe we ought to see what happen to the possessed digimon?" suggested Jon.

"I hope they're all okay," said Kanto. "Hopefully the spell is gone, now that Boogeymon's no more."

As if on cue, they suddenly heard noises coming towards them. One by one, the said digimon come into the gate, which was the sole remnant of what had left from Boogeymon's reign. Leomon was there, looking dazed. Beside him was Ogremon, who had his hands crossed over his chest, looking grumpy. They were followed by the other digimon, all looked equally confused. The Digidestined rushed to greet Leomon, happy that he was safe.

"What happened to us?" asked Leomon. "The last thing I remember was being at File Island…"

The Digidestined began to fill them with all the details they had forgotten while they were under the Curse of the Crimson Eye's possession. The digimon were horrified to learn that they had been possessed, but relaxed instantly when they heard that Boogeymon was no more. They promptly apologized for everything they had done while not in their right state of mind; well all with the exception of Ogremon, who was looking annoyed.

"Don't you think I'm gonna mellow out now! Leomon, I still have a score to settle with you," he said, readying his cudgel.

Leomon groaned, and backed off. "I don't have any interest to fight you today, Ogremon. We will settle this at another day."

"No! We'll fight now!"

Before Leomon could answer, Wizardmon suddenly walked past him and thrust his staff straight onto Ogremon's neck.

"Wizardmon!" Kanto gasped. "What are you doing?"

"If you're going to fight, then fight me! I have a score to settle with you!" said Wizardmon, in a tone that set fear into Ogremon's mind. "I've defeated Boogeymon, and I will not hesitate to do the same thing to YOU as well, should you give me more than a reason. Given that you're under the curse, I believe that you're not to blame. But don't think I'm going to forgive you for taking away Impmon's life."

Ogremon paled instantly. "What do you mean? Have I… killed this Impmon?"

The look in Wizardmon's eyes answered his question immediately. The wizard quickly lowered his staff and backed off.

"Go!" barked Wizardmon, but his voice sounded somewhat sad. "Just go." He turned around and joined his friends.

Ogremon stood for a while, motionless. He wasn't a good digimon to begin with, and this wasn't the first time he had caused the deletion of a digimon. By looking at the little Viximon's piercing glare, he was reminded to the time when he, as three little Goburimon, had caused her friends to be deleted. He had even absorbed their data, which was a bane for all digimon. Though he did feel remorse now, but it was too late. No one would accept him any longer. With that, he turned his back and quickly set forth down the mountain, and he was gone.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" asked Kira.

"He deserves it," replied Viximon, vexed. "After what he did to the Yokomon, he deserves it."

"Well, why the long faces now?" asked Koromon. "We've defeated the bad guy already. The island is now free from the horrible curse. Isn't this the time to celebrate?"

"Now you're talking," said Leomon. "Let's head back to the Primary Village."

* * *

"You better have a good reason for contacting me. I do not like to be disturbed in this hour!"

"Forgive me Dragomon, but I have news from you."

"Speak! Do not waste my time."

"My crew and I are now at the Database Island. We were actually coming to your domain to deliver the supplies you were asking earlier, but we've caught up in a minor difficulty with the Niximon that are residing inside the ocean. The ship is being repaired as we speak, so there might be a slight delay."

"It is not of my concern. Do you not know that if you are late in delivering the supplies, then the payment will be reduced. And did you say you are in Database Island now?"

"Yes. Does the name of the island ring a bell?"

"I believe so. It is where my fellow Legion of Darkness brother lives."

"Get this, Dragomon. The prophesied Digidestined are here, and they are now fighting this Boogeymon. Your brother, I presume?"

"What? The Digidestined? Why am I not informed about this? See to it that you assist Boogeymon in his battle against the Digidestined."

"Hold it right there, Dragomon. Firstly, there isn't stated in our contract that I would do your bidding. My task is only to deliver you supplies that you need and we so happen to have. For a _payment_. And secondly, from what I heard of these Digidestined, they are a force to be reckoned with. One digimon I met spoke highly of them."

"This must not be! I am going to sense my brother's presence to see to see how he fares… What is the meaning of this? It cannot be! There must be a mistake. I could not sense him anywhere."

"From where I'm standing now, there seems to be a huge firework in action just recently on top of the highest peak of this island."

"It seems to me that Boogeymon has already lost. How unfortunate, and it is a great shame for the Legion of Darkness."

"Yeah whatever, I don't exactly have high regards on this Legion of Darkness."

"How dare you speak in such manner about the Legion of Darkness?"

"I'm a free mon, Dragomon. While the rest of the world bows to the Legion of Darkness, we pirates roam the sea."

"Do not be so sure of yourself, Hookmon. It is only a matter of time before the sea will also fall under the Legion of Darkness's power. For now, I have a proposition for you."

"If it involves an extra sack of gold, then I'm all ears."

"We shall see about that. I want you to bring the Digidestined to me. Gain their trust to leave the island, and bring them to me."

"That's a huge task Dragomon. I expect big reward for this one."

"That is our policy, Hookmon. Reward for success, punishment for failure. But do not fail me, Hookmon! Now leave me in peace."

"I won't fail. Hookmon out."


	11. Disturbing Discoveries

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 11 – Disturbing Discoveries_**

_**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

The news of Boogeymon's defeat spread as quickly as lightning all over Database Island. It became a hot topic of discussion amongst digimon; neither could meet one other and not talk about the event that occurred that very morning. Many digimon, albeit from afar, saw the battle that was happening on Zero Mountain and had supported the Digidestined. When they were victorious, all of the digimon rejoiced as well. Words got around, and not soon after that the Digidestined, without them knowing yet, were hailed as heroes.

The Digidestined spent the morning looking for the gateway back home, with Leomon's help, but found no traces of it. Max seemed to be the most relieved of it, Darien complained about not being able to go back yet, while the three younger children were quite looking forward of more adventures with their newfound friends. But despite the different feelings none of them really wanted to part with their partners. Despite spending only a while on the island, all five of them had bonded with their digimon, even Kanto, who had just met his partner the day before. Feeling that there was nothing they could do just yet, they decided to return to Primary Village and sleep through the day for a well-earned rest.

It was already late noon; but the sun was still shining brightly while the blue sky was cloudless. The sounds of chirping and soft winds hummed across the atmosphere. It was a beautiful day indeed, and for the inhabitants of the island it was the first one they had seen in a very long time.

A digimon was galloping towards Primary Village, knowing perfectly that other than it being a place of newborns, it was also a place chosen by the children while they were there. It was a large brown centaur-like creature with purple circular armor adorning various parts of its body, and was wearing a steel helmet. Upon arrival at the village of the beginnings, the digimon was promptly greeted by Leomon who was at the gate.

"Centaurmon," said Leomon warmly. It seemed that both Leomon and the digimon, Centaurmon had known each other. "What brings you here?"

"Elecmon?" asked Centaurmon, sounding slightly confused as he stared at the lion man digimon closely. "For a while I almost did not recognize you. So, you're Leomon now."

"It looks like I will remain in this form from now on," replied Leomon. "I haven't de-digivolve back into my rookie form ever since I was freed from the curse."

"So it's true," said Centaurmon apologetically. "I'm sorry to hear that you've once been under that fiendish Boogeymon's control. Not to worry though, we are lucky that the Digidestined have come to our island and finished off that demon. Speaking of the Digidestined that is the matter why I 'm here. I would really love to meet them, and extend my invitation for them to attend a grand celebration held at my village. The event takes place tonight, and all digimon on this island are cordially invited to join the celebration. You are invited as well, Leomon."

Leomon smiled but shook his head slightly. "I afraid I will not be able to make it, Centaurmon. I still have these little ones to take care upon. But I am sure the kids and their partners will love to attend the celebration. "

"It's too bad that you couldn't come, Leomon. Say, shouldn't you have been freed already from the caretaker duty? It is an Elecmon's job to watch over the hatchlings. You should find a successor; it's about time you come out from the village and roam the island," said Centaurmon.

"I have, but until young Tokomon digivolves, I will remain here," answered Leomon. "Why don't you come into Primary Village for the time being? Three of the Digidestined are by the river now, Max is around the village somewhere and Kira had gone off with her partner to find a secluded place to clean up. They should be here after a while. Then you can extend the invitation to them yourself."

Centaurmon accepted the offer and joined Leomon tending to the babies while waiting for the Digidestined to come. Then they were joined by Max and Koromon, who were helping Tokomon watching over a group of baby digimon playing. Leomon thought that it was strange for Max for not joining the other Digidestined having some fun at the river, but decided not to ask just yet. From the two weeks they had spent before the arrival of the other destined, Leomon had known Max enough to know that when the boy had decided to speak, he would tell him anything, but when he was silent there would be nothing anyone could get out from his mouth.

Kira and Viximon came along after a few minutes, both looked fresh and revitalized. The light brown-haired girl had pink and yellow towels wrapped around her body, as her clothes were washed by Tokomon. She was holding Viximon in her hands, and the young digimon was wrapped inside a yellow towel. Leomon was amused to see the scowling face of Viximon, knowing that the proud digimon was not used of such attention. But despite that, Leomon knew that Viximon loved her partner dearly.

Tokomon saw the girls coming, and called out, "Kira! Your clothes are inside the nursery, freshly laundered!"

Kira smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Tokomon!" She darted past Tokomon quickly and went into the nursery.

"Think nothing of it."

After they came out from the nursery ten minutes later, Leomon introduced Kira to Centaurmon. The girl was enthralled to meet what she termed as a magical creature back in her world.

The sounds of laughter that came after Kira's arrival marked the arrival of the other three boys. Darien, Jon and Kanto appeared from the entrance, with only towels wrapped around their waists. Darien and Jon were holding Tsunomon and Kapurimon, while Wizardmon followed behind Kanto silently. Tokomon told them the same thing he'd told Kira earlier, and not very long after that the three boys emerged out of the nursery looking clean and refreshed. Leomon then motioned for the five Digidestined to join him and Centaurmon, introducing the centaur as the head digimon of Driver Cove village.

Centaurmon expressed his gratitude towards the Digidestined for saving the island, and the young teens were surprised to learn that by then, everyone on the island had hailed them as their saviors. He then invited all the Digidestined and their partners to come to his village, and told them about the celebration which was for them.

"Cool, a celebration! It's about time we get some recognition!" exclaimed Darien happily. "Sure, we're DEFINITELY going!"

"How are we going there?" asked Max, scowling slightly towards Darien but the latter was ignorant about it.

"I know where Driver Cove village is," Viximon replied promptly. "It is located somewhere around the east side of this island, and is near the beach. It is a beautiful place. I have been there once; I can take all of us there."

"That's good. I will see you soon. Please try to be there by sunset. If everything's going well, then most of the digimon on this island will show up. All of them are eager to meet the five of you," said Centaurmon before he rose up to his feet. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to go back to the village. There are preparations still being set, and I have to help around. It's a pleasure meeting all of you." He was beginning to turn around to leave when suddenly all of them felt the ground shaking slightly. However, just as abrupt as it came it soon vanished, leaving all of them astounded.

"What was that all about?" wondered Kapurimon, twitching his tail up and down.

"Did an earthquake happen just now?" asked Jon, perplexed.

Leomon knitted his brows together in confusion. "That's strange. Earthquakes don't happen in this island. Not as long as I remembered."

"Now that's something you don't get everyday," said Centaurmon breathlessly. Then he regained his composure and straightened up. "Well, it's probably nothing. It's gone now. I sure hope there's nothing like this going to happen tonight. It will disturb the plans we have. Well, I'd best be leaving now. Goodbye." Centaurmon galloped away and disappeared inside the forest in front of the village, while the Digidestined quickly went off to make preparations for the upcoming party they were going to attend.

* * *

It was already midnight when the Digidestined made their way back to Primary Village. To say it was only a celebration was a misnomer – it was actually a grand extravaganza! Digimon of various shapes and sizes were there to meet them, to express their gratitude. They were amazed to see that Driver Cove was no mere village – it was more like a small town by the sea. It was big enough to fit massive Champion digimon, and was lit with multicolored lights hung on trees and rooftops of the cottages there.

Centaurmon then gave a brief speech on behalf of all digimon on Database Island to thank the youths for their courage to finally eradicate Boogeymon and his curse from the island forever. Next, they were given royal treatments as foods of various assortments were served, and they were entertained by a group of Floramon dancing, and a Kiwimon's enchanting songs. It was then they were reunited with their four allies – Tentomon, Biyomon, Palmon and Gomamon – who were actually staying there as well. The four digimon then helped their friends getting acquainted with the digimon of the village. When they realized that it was already nearing midnight, they excused themselves and thanked Centaurmon for inviting them to the festive.

While all of them were full, none really wanted to return back to Primary Village just yet. Except for Kanto; he and Wizardmon decided that they would go back to Primary Village with the foods they had brought from Driver Cove for Leomon and the hatchlings.

Max and ToyAgumon decided to go someplace else, and excused themselves from the others. Kira then told her brother and Jon that she wanted to go to the beach. Darien wanted to accompany his sister, but Kira insisted to go only with Renamon, saying that nothing would go wrong now that Boogeymon was no more. Renamon promised to take care of Kira, and the duo disappeared. Bearmon and Kotemon wanted to show Darien and Jon where they used to stay after leaving Primary Village and before meeting them. And so, the three Digidestined parted ways. Little did they know that each and every one of them was going to unearth interesting, and to some disturbing, discoveries.

* * *

Max was heading towards the place where he first met ToyAgumon, which was near the deeper parts of the river. He just wanted to talk with ToyAgumon in private. After arriving there, they sat side by side at the river bank.

"So..." ToyAgumon began, after a long moment of silence. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well... I don't know, really. I just want to ask your opinion about something," Max replied. "Earlier this morning, the guys asked me to join them by the river. I really wanted to, but... I don't think I want them to know just yet."

ToyAgumon's inquiring face dawned with understanding. "Are the scars on your chest and back still there?" (See Chapter 2)

Max nodded. "Knowing the four of them, they probably want to know all the details. Something I'm not prepared to tell them just yet."

"Why?"

"It's just... it's only been a week since I met them. I'm not used to having many people around me yet."

"Don't you trust them, Max?"

Max shook his head. "It's not like that. I'm just not sure about their reaction. I mean, just look at them. From what I gather, all of them come from parents who care about them. I bet none of them have ever experienced what I had. None of them could really understand."

"I guess you have a point there," replied ToyAgumon. "But won't you at least give them a chance? The four of them will be the closest humans you can find while you're here. Shouldn't you trust them a lot more and open up a little? Bearmon and Kotemon used to say that their partners always wondered what's up with you. Even Renamon voiced her opinion, having heard from Kira how aloof and serious you are. "

Max was surprised, and managed to let out a slight smile. "Really? I'm not aware of that. The four of them seems to know each other even before coming here; I thought I was intruding their circle."

"Don't be so sure about that. They looked up to you, Max. To them, you have the most knowledge experience. I'm not surprised if they decided to make you the team leader."

"ME? A leader? Oh no, no... I can't lead a team. I've never done that! Darien would be a better leader, he's well-liked by the other three. Why would we need a leader anyway?"

"If the battle goes on, like Boogeymon has said before he was deleted, then we'd need someone to coordinate the team."

"We don't know that yet. Maybe the battle is indeed over."

"If the battle's over, then you would be back on your world instead of being here talking with me," ToyAgumon countered.

Max frowned. "You know... I don't really look forward on going back. I have fun here. Well... despite the occasional battles anyway. Here I found my true, best friend. Back on my world, all I have is an abusive uncle and an ignorant aunt and cousin. My mom was too busy with work that she hadn't time to take care of me, and my dad... who knows what has happened to him. There's not a word from him. I don't see why I should go back."

"I'd love to have you around me, Max. But, you know it, and I know it too... you will be going back after all of the Legion of Darkness in this world have been defeated."

"Look... why don't we just cross the bridge when we get there?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Well, it's always nice talking to you."

"That's my job, for someone as uptight as you."

"HEY! I am not uptight. I can be FRIENDLY if I wanted to."

"Then... open up a little to the others. Then maybe when you do go back to your world, you have four friends to fall back on instead of being on your own again. I can't be around the whole time just to watch your back."

Max was going to retort, but then he smiled and pulled the grinning ToyAgumon close to him. The two friends then decided not to say anything more, and enjoyed each other's company under the moonlight.

* * *

In the meantime, Kira and Renamon were admiring the moonlight while heading towards the beach. They were now inside the forests, and some of the lights coming from the moon had passed through the thick canopies. The lights were reflected against Renamon's yellow fur, making her as if surrounded by golden aura. Kira was stunned, but apparently Renamon wasn't aware of it.

"You know Renamon..." Kira began, looking up towards her tall partner. Renamon stopped walking and looked at her partner with a questioning look. "The moonlight really accentuates the color of your fur. You look beautiful."

"Really?" replied Renamon, blushing slightly while looking down to inspect her body and extremities. Indeed, her fur looked as if they were glowing, reflecting the moon's pale lights. "Thank you... nobody has complimented about me like that. Even I have not thought about that. "

Kira grinned. "You also remind me of a legend I used to hear from my father back at my world."

Now Renamon was definitely intrigued. "Is that so? Do tell me about it."

"Well... he used to tell me about this spiritual fox-spirit called the _kitsune_. Kitsune is said to have magical powers and leads a very long life, possibly reaching hundreds of years. A long time ago, travelers inside the forest were extremely wary of the kitsune; as it is capable of possessing them and create illusions of things that are not real."

"I take it that your world do not take the kitsune seriously?" Renamon asked.

"Well, I think they should," said Kira earnestly. "Wait till they see YOU."

Renamon nodded her head appreciatively. "Is there anything else I should know about the kitsune?"

"As a matter of fact, there is, and I think it's very interesting. You see, I begin to see that there's a symbolism of your digivolution from Renamon to Kyubimon. It is very similar to a kitsune as it matures. A kitsune grows additional one tail as it ages, and will have nine tails when it's fully matured, with each tail signifying a thousand years it has lived. Kyubimon has nine tails, meaning that when you are in this form you are apparently at your best."

"I am flattered to hear that. That is definitely an interesting fact," said Renamon, pausing a while before continuing with her inquiries. "You seem to be very knowledgeable about the kitsune. Is there a reason behind it?"

Kira smiled sheepishly. "Well, to tell you the truth, I was afraid of the kitsune when I was younger. Darien used to make me go to bed by saying that if I didn't; the kitsune would come and get me. This happened for quite a while, until dad heard about this and told me that kitsunes aren't necessarily bad creatures. Some of them are good. Since then I'm always interested to know about the kitsune. I've read much stuff about the kitsune and I'm convinced that they exist. You're a living proof of one. I was so keen of the kitsune that Darien sometimes told me that one day a kitsune would really come to me for having so much interest on it. I guess he got his wish."

The duo shared a laugh together. Then, Renamon became silent and looked intently at Kira.

"I am sincerely glad to meet you, Kira. All my life, I have been waiting for you. I could never ask for a better partner."

Kira was slightly taken aback by Renamon's truthful comment that she blushed slightly. "Oh stop. I didn't do much to you. You're already strong on your own."

"But it is true," Renamon insisted. "I can become strong with a series of vigorous trainings, but my life and purposes can only be completed with having you as my partner. You are the one who gives me the power to digivolve. You are the one who make me strong."

"Well... that's so sweet of you, Renamon. I'm glad to meet you too."

The two shared a moment of silence together and resumed their journey until they nearly reached the beach. Noises were heard, which attracted Kira's attention. However before the girl could take any step further, Renamon pulled her back and motioned her to keep quiet.

"Fox Change Void," the fox muttered, and to Kira's amazement both of them became invisible.

"Renamon, I don't know you can do this!" she whispered excitedly. "Why are we invisible?"

"It is not advisable to just march there without knowing the source of the noise beforehand," Renamon replied. "As for the invisibility, I have never demonstrated it yet before as I have difficulty in mastering the technique. Be still, I can only make you invisible as well as long as you are in my grasp."

"Alright, I'll be still," Kira promised.

Both of them tiptoed towards the farthest tree, and saw an amazing sight. On the shore was a massive black ship. It was an outlandish sight to behold.

"It's the strangest ship I have ever seen," Kira commented, her eyes taking in all the features of the vessel. "Look at all the masts, Renamon... uh oh..."

Renamon's ears perked up. "What? What did you see?"

Kira, while in invisibility state, could only be seen by Renamon. She was pointing towards the top of the tallest mast. There was a black flag placed on top of the mast, with a picture of a white skull with crossbones in front of the skull. "Pirates!"

"Invaders," Renamon realized. "This is not good. We have to warn Leomon and the other Digidestined."

"Wait... look over there!" Kira said urgently. Renamon followed her gaze and saw a row of small wooden cottages. She recognized the cottages instantly as Driver Cove's storehouses for emergency food supplies from the land across the sea. Small identical figures were moving in and out of a cottage, and those who were already outside seemed to be carrying something on their hands.

"They are robbing the Driver Cove's storehouses!" Renamon gasped in realization. She growled silently, before her eyes saw something that caught her interest. Near the storehouses, a digimon was standing above a wooden crate. It was a small, monkey-like creature, and with the aid of the moonlight Renamon recognized the digimon as a Koemon. However upon closer inspection, she realized that all those figures carrying the stolen materials from the storehouses were Koemon as well. The one standing on top of the wooden crate seemed to be directing the actions of the other Koemon. Something on the Koemon's face perked Renamon's interest.

"How strange..." she whispered to Kira. "I sense a feeling of... sadness, in that Koemon."

"Now you can _sense_ other's feelings as well?" Kira whispered back incredulously. "Just how many special abilities do you have actually, Renamon?"

"Like you said, a kitsune is a spiritual creature," Renamon simply replied with a smirk. "That is not important for the time being. That Koemon seems not to like what he is doing now, as if he is forced to do the task he is assigned right now."

Suddenly, the tree in front of them exploded without warning! Had it not been for them to be inside an interspatial pocket dimension, which made them invisible in the first place, they would instantly met their doom. The sudden ambush however had thrown Kira and Renamon out of the pocket dimension, making them visible again.

"I thought I heard noises here. Obviously, I'm right!" A loud voice called over to them.

Kira and Renamon both got up quickly and glowered at the one who had attacked them. It was a digimon dressed in blue pirate garb, with cannon for an arm and a golden hook for another. It had a smug look on its half-covered face.

"Hey! You could get us killed!" Kira yelled angrily.

"Who are you?" Renamon demanded.

"I was about to ask you two the same thing, _ladies_," replied the digimon. "And what brings you to spy on us?"

"What makes you think we're spies? For all you know, we could be lost?" Kira claimed.

"Nah...no, I don't buy that. Both of you look too smart to be lost... and too beautiful to be on your own," replied the digimon. "Being a gentlemon I am, I will introduce myself. I am Captain Hookmon, the proud owner of the Bane Buccaneer." He motioned towards the black ship.

"Right, and I'm Peter Pan," muttered Kira, unconvinced.

"Who is that?" whispered Renamon.

"Never mind."

"Oy! Are you listening to me?" Hookmon called to them, sounding peeved. "I have introduced myself, and it's only polite if you do the same."

"Why should we introduce ourselves to the one who had nearly taken OUR LIVES?" Renamon asked loudly.

"I thought that there was someone spying on seizing my precious ship," Hookmon replied, and bowed slightly. "My apologies, ladies, but a pirate can't be too careful. I've encountered many who tried to steal the Bane Buccaneer, and initially I thought it was the same case just now. Please, allow me to make up for it. Would you care to come up the ship and have tea with me?"

"Is he for real?" Kira asked in hushed tones towards Renamon.

The fox snorted slightly and replied towards Hookmon; "With you stealing their goods, is it not quite apparent why those you have mentioned just now wanted to seize your ship?"

Hookmon looked appalled upon hearing Renamon's sharp-witted comment. "That is none of your business, ladies. Now, if you don't want to have tea with me, fine, but don't go poking your noses at stuffs that better be left alone. Now if you will excuse me, ladies, I have other matters to attend to. I will see you two again later." With that, he turned around with an exaggerated manner and walked off.

"What's up with him?" Kira wondered.

"He doesn't know who you are," a new voice replied. It sounded intelligent, albeit a little bit squeaky. It was the Koemon whom they saw earlier, and he was looking up towards them. Upon closer inspection, they saw a white triangular badge worn by Koemon on his yellow leopard garb, marking him as the guide. "But I do. You are the Digidestined. Kira, and Renamon, am I right?"

"How do you know this?" Renamon demanded.

"Words got around," Koemon said simply.

"You know... and you didn't reveal us to your captain?" asked Kira.

"Nah... he'll just turn you to Dragomon, first thing." Upon this, Koemon hung his head down sadly.

"Who's Dragomon?" Kira inquired. "And what does he want with us?"

"I don't have a clue myself, but I've caught the captain speaking with this Dragomon this morning. Apparently Dragomon wants him to bring over the Digidestined to him, but the captain has refused him unless he is promised a huge sum of money. Dragomon tells him that it could be arranged, and the captain has agreed," Koemon explained.

"We've just battled Boogeymon, and now there's another mean digimon after us?" Kira sighed.

"Why are you telling us all these things?" Renamon asked suspiciously.

"I need you to do something for me," answered Koemon wistfully. "Talk to him, please. He obviously has taken a shine onto the two of you; I've seen it in his eyes when he talked to you. Despite his attitude, he's actually a decent captain. He's just... misguided, especially after working under Dragomon. Dragomon's influence made him willing to trade his freedom for money. Please advise him, I can't stand seeing him continuing on like this. He's a good mon, he might listen to you."

"If he really wants to send us off to Dragomon, then we're playing with fire here," Kira said slowly. "But I believe you, Koemon."

"Koemon, you got yourself a deal!" Renamon declared.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Darien complained. "I don't think my foot can take this kind of abuse anymore!"

"Darien's right. We've been walking for nearly two hours non-stop. We could really use a break," said Jon, rubbing sweat that was trickling down his face with his orange bandanna.

"We're almost there," Bearmon promised. "Right, Kotemon?"

"I don't think we're far from Shadow Parish," Kotemon confirmed. "In fact... here we are!"

The four of them saw that they were closing in the entrance of a village. The gates surrounding the village seemed to be made of bamboo sticks and inside, small wooden huts were visible despite the darkness of the night. However, something was definitely off with Shadow Parish, as both Digidestined saw their partners tensed up instantly.

"This is not right," said Bearmon. "The Shadow Parish I remember is not this dark. Where are all the lights? Where are the digimon living here?"

Indeed, the village was as dark as the night itself, and was too quiet for their liking.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," said Kotemon, and walked into the gate. "Let's find anyone we know."

"Good idea," said Jon. "Lead the way, Kotemon."

They walked into the village, and had a look around. Everything seemed to be in order, but there was not a sign of anyone. It seemed as if the village was deserted. Bearmon and Kotemon had thought that the villagers would hold a celebration as well, similar to those of Driver Cove. But Shadow Cove seemed to be void of the rejoicing mood. Suddenly, Kotemon's sharp hearing, being a warrior type digimon, caught a creepy, moaning sound and quickly beckoned the others to hide inside of the empty hut. All of them squeezed to look through the hut's sole window, and saw something that looked like a floating white sheet moving outside. It was shaped as if there was something inside the sheet.

Both Darien and Jon gasped in horror. "A ghost!"

"No, that's a Bakemon," said Kotemon quietly. "Ghost type digimon in Champion level, a Bakemon has the ability to shape-shift into any other being."

"I don't remember a Bakemon living inside this village," Bearmon whispered fearfully. "What's it doing here?"

"Beats me," replied Kotemon, sounding confused. "Best if we keep quiet for a while."

"Just great," mumbled Darien. "Now I'm stuck inside a small hut with a creepy ghost outside."

"There's another one!" Jon whispered urgently. "And another one! There's too many of them." Outside the hut were now three Bakemon, but luckily they were not aware of the foreign presence inside the hut.

Bearmon frowned. "This is SO not good! What's a horde of Bakemon doing inside Shadow Parish?"

"Let's wait until all of them go away first, then we can investigate," Darien suggested.

And so they waited for about ten minutes before the three Bakemon were away. Creeping out slowly from the hut, they made way to the center of the village, where according to Kotemon, was the place where the digimon of the village would hold a gathering. As they were getting nearer the center, they could detect strange voices coming from there, and faint yellow and red lights which seemed to be originating from a campfire reflected from the walls of the cottages near them. Then, there were the same strange moaning sounds again.

Slowly and carefully they approached the center and hid behind a thick bush. On the center was a small bonfire with red particles swirling around it, and there was a number of Bakemon surrounding it. They were all chanting together, which gave the Digidestined the creeps. The sight of a horde of ghouls was not exactly appealing, and one wrong step would cost them dearly.

There was a higher platform somewhere on the center, and a bigger Bakemon was standing over it. It looked just like the other Bakemon did, but there was one difference. It was wearing a long black pointed hat, and if it weren't for their current situation the Digidestined would have giggled as that Bakemon looked extremely silly wearing the hat.

"That's not a Bakemon," Kotemon suddenly realized. "It's its distant cousin, a Soulmon!"

The Soulmon apparently was the leader of the pack. With a loud echoing voice that instantly marked him as a male, Soulmon was saying an incantation repeatedly, and the Bakemon repeated the chants with their spine-chilling moans. The sight was quite bizarre to behold, but suddenly the Digidestined all felt as if their hearts had stopped beating, for being shocked of hearing what Soulmon had just said.

"_Arise from the grave, lord Boogeymon, and return to your glory!"_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

In this chapter and the next four chapters to come, I will be showcasing the profiles of the five Digidestined that is in the story. Hopefully it will be informative for readers to relate with them. To **Hahn**, thanks for reviewing.

Chapter Update: I've decided to change the chapter title after revising the current plot, and add more info on Max's bio below.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**:: SPECIAL PRESENTATION: CHARACTER PROFILE ::**

**Name:** Max Miyazaki

**Age:** 15

**Hair:** Short, spiked, reddish brown

**Eyes:** Hazel (shaped like Matt / Rika's eyes)

**Body type:** Slightly muscular, tall, fair skin

**General Appearance: **The character 'Max' is mould from Matt Ishida (01/02) and Rika Nonaka (Tamers) based on both appearances and attitudes.

**Clothes Description:** White sleeveless V-neck T-shirt with yellow linings, a pair of dark blue jeans, red headband and waistbands, white snickers

**Partner Digimon:** ToyAgumon

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**


	12. Deal with the Devil

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

_**Chapter 12 – Deal With the Devil**_

_**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

At Primary Village, Kanto and Wizardmon were lying side by side on the colorful grounds at the corner of the village. Their gazes were fixed towards the dark blue sky, which was decorated with thousands of twinkling stars. As it was already past midnight, the hatchlings were already past asleep. Tokomon and Leomon had also called it a day, and had also gone to bed. Everything was quite and peaceful, which gave Wizardmon the opportunity to talk with his human partner.

"Kanto," he began, and paused to wait for his partner's reaction. "Are you still awake?"

"Yeah, I'm up." Came the reply, and Kanto got up and stretched his body. "Why?"

"Oh, it's nothing important. I'm just wondering whether you're interested in having a conversation with me."

This sparked Kanto's interest immediately. "Sure! What do you want to talk about?"

"Hmm... to tell the truth, I don't even know where to start. There is so much I wanted to ask you."

"Well, I guess we can start with the introductions. You know, we've never been properly introduced to each other..."

Wizardmon smiled knowingly. "I know exactly what you mean."

Their first meeting was when Wizardmon was still Demidevimon and Impmon. They were assigned to eliminate Kanto, but in a twist of fate they were revealed to be his partners instead.

So, Kanto began telling his partner about himself and his family, his interests, and how did he manage to meet the rest of the Digidestined and ended up here on the Digital World, and practically any other details that Wizardmon didn't even think of asking. All the while, Wizardmon was silent; absorbing all the details he was given without interrupting him. When the boy was finished with his introduction, Wizardmon nodded in appreciation.

"That is definitely interesting. I am however curious of one thing... what is a family actually? As far as I can understand, there is a father, a mother, and you... to make up a family, am I right?"

Kanto chuckled slightly. "I guess I should see it coming... being here, I realize that digimon are all born from data and hatch from digi-eggs. Well, you're right at that; a family consists of parents and child."

"Parents?"

"Yeah... parents, as in a father and a mother. Together, they are called parents."

"I see. Please continue."

Kanto took a deep breath. "So, a family consists of parents and child. If they have more than one child, then among the children, they are termed siblings. A male sibling is called a brother, and a female one is called a sister. Take Darien and Kira as an example... they are siblings."

"I understand," said Wizardmon, nodding. "In the Digital World, there are some digimon who claim another as their brother or sister."

"Yeah, that's like Jon. According to Kira, Jon is considered a brother to Darien and her, although they have no blood relation. "

"I think I understand that," Wizardmon said knowingly. "I saw how Darien is protective of Kira and Jon.... and you too. I guess they consider you a family as well?"

Kanto's smile faltered slightly, and he sighed. "You know, I certainly hope so. I just got to know them... and they seem to be great people to be with."

"What about Max? From my observation, he seems to be quite reserved."

"Well... I don't know exactly. I've never really talk to him that much to get to know him. The first time he tried to strike a conversation with me, I was in a particularly bad mood because back then I was the one who didn't have a partner digimon. I practically brushed him aside and left for the woods. I guess I owe him an apology for that," said Kanto thoughtfully.

"Consider the apology accepted," replied a new, yet familiar, warm voice coming from behind of them. Turning around, they saw two figures coming out from the woods. Max and ToyAgumon stepped out from the shadows, and the redhead seemed to be smirking slightly.

"Hey... how long have you two been listening to us?" Kanto demanded, but his voice sounded more like a whine than a demand.

Max raised both hands defensively. "We weren't eavesdropping, if that's what you think. We were just heading back here when we heard you two talking."

"So what are you guys talking about?" ToyAgumon asked eagerly.

Kanto shrugged slightly. "Nothing much. Wizardmon here is wondering about the concept of a family."

Max raised an eyebrow. "That's... something. Mind if we join you two? We don't really feel like sleeping just yet."

Kanto and Wizardmon exchanged glances together. Then, Kanto replied; "Be our guests."

The older teen took a seat beside the younger boy, and ToyAgumon plopped down beside him. They were forming a small circle.

"So... family huh? I don't really have much opinions on that," Max began, his smirk fading quickly, replaced by a slight frown.

"I noticed that you seemed... glad, not being able to return yet. Mind if we know why?" Kanto inquired curiously.

This question took the older teen off guard. "Well... it's a long story..."

"Ahem." ToyAgumon pretended to clear his throat, which made the others wonder as he was made of toy blocks.

Max however seemed to get the hint, and sweated slightly. "Well... now that you've mentioned it... I guess I can tell you. You see, I don't live with my folks anymore. They were divorced and my dad seemed to care more about traveling rather than the family. Dad's an artist while mom's a lawyer... so I guess there must be some artistic differences between the two of them. Mom has to work in order to support me and herself, and she barely had enough free time. So she sent me to live with my aunt and her family. I don't really like them much... no, make it, I can't stand them. So I ran away from their house, and somewhere in the woods where my aunt lives I stumbled into a portal, and ended up here."

Kanto nodded, having heard of the story from Jon earlier that day, when they were at the river. But hearing it straight from Max had a different effect towards him. Gulping slightly, he tried to think of a polite way to reply.

"I'm sorry to hear about that."

The redheaded teen bore his eyes into the boy's violet orbs, and gave a strained smile.

"Nah, don't worry about it kid. I kinda like it here. "

"Really? You don't mind if we have to fight again?"

"Uh..." he glanced towards ToyAgumon, who seemed to be waiting for an answer too. "...Except that, of course. I don't really like fighting, but after coming here it seems like we have to fight in order to survive. That is, when the island was under Boogeymon's power."

Kanto nodded. "It looks like we have something else to do around here, or else we would've be back to our world now."

"Yeah. Which means, it's not over yet," Max agreed.

The strawberry-blonde boy then decided to change the topic of conversation.

"Max... if you don't mind me asking, what was the reason you ran away from home? Why didn't you like your aunt's family so much?"

The older teen suddenly stiffed. ToyAgumon also seemed to be nervous, judging by the way he was looking at his partner. Kanto realized that somehow he had picked a rather sensitive topic of conversation.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," he said slowly.

Max got up suddenly, and turned away. Glancing over his shoulder to look at Kanto, he motioned with his hand for ToyAgumon to follow him. "I think I'm gonna turn in for now; it's getting quite late," he stated quickly. His expression seemed to harden, which scared Kanto slightly. However just as sudden as his mood change, Max's expression soften quickly enough.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I'll tell you someday, but for now I just don't feel like talking about it yet."

"I understand," Kanto replied. "You go first; Wizardmon and I are going to wait up for the others to come back. We're not sleepy yet."

Max nodded and together with ToyAgumon they went to the other side of the village, where Leomon and Tokomon had gone to for their sleep. Kanto and Wizardmon waited until the two of them were out of sight before continuing with their conversation.

"What was that all about?" Wizardmon wondered.

Kanto merely shrugged. "Beats me. Something back home seems to be bothering him though."

"And ToyAgumon knows about it too. Maybe I can ask him, if you want me to."

"No," Kanto decided, shaking his head slightly. "I don't want to pry on his business unnecessarily. Besides, he'll tell us when he feels like it, right?"

Wizardmon smiled. "You're absolutely right. I'm impressed."

"Huh?" Kanto asked, confused. "Of what?"

"Of how mature you are," Wizardmon answered.

"Aw... shucks."

-

-

Hookmon was inside his personal cabin, sitting leisurely on a black leather chair behind a fine wooden work desk. His personal cabin was spacious, to say the least. In front of his desk was two smaller chairs made of the same material like the one he was sitting on. The wooden floor was carpeted with red carpet with black trimmings. Placed opposite his desk, at the farthest side against the wall, were two sofas that seemed to be serving as a makeshift bed as well. The walls were left bare, except for a mirror that decorated the wall opposite Hookmon's desk, near the sofas. The room was brightly lit with yellow lights coming from the chandelier hung on the ceiling. A large opened window decorated with purple velvet curtain was on one side of the wall, and on its opposite was the door. The door, made of ebony wood with golden circular knob, was left ajar.

The captain of the vessel seemed to be communicating with a glowing circular projection that was hovering on its own on the air. Whatever the topic of their conversation, it seemed to be annoying Hookmon.

"Everything isn't going as planned, Dragomon. I have met one of the Digidestined, and her partner. Unfortunately we had a minor scuffle due to a misunderstanding. It would take a while for me to win their trust now."

"That is unacceptable, Hookmon. I have sensed a disturbance over the island you are at right now. Something is not right. I seem to be feeling that a fellow brother of the Legion of Darkness is there, but it is impossible as you have mentioned earlier that Boogeymon has been defeated."

"Perhaps I can send a few Koemon to scout around the island to see what has happened?" Hookmon offered.

Dragomon snorted. "There is no need of that for the time being. If it is indeed Boogeymon, I will sense it. But for now... tell me about these Digidestined and digimon you have met. Are they still around?"

"I think so. The last time I saw them, they were at the beach. Apparently a crew of mine had been able to strike a conversation with them."

CREEEEAAAKKK....

Hookmon's attention immediately snapped towards the door, where he heard a sudden creaking sound. The door which was left ajar initially was now half-opened. However there was no one there, at least to Hookmon. The corridor outside his cabin was dark, and Hookmon couldn't see anything beyond the shadows cast by the closed up space that made the corridor. Hookmon shrugged as he closed the door, dismissing it as the wind coming from the open window inside his cabin and returned to his conversation with Dragomon.

However, should Hookmon decided to investigate longer, he would have noticed a tall yellow vulpine creature appearing out from the shadows momentarily before vanishing again inside the darkness.

-

-

Things were beginning to look ugly on Shadow Parish. Darien, Jon, and their partners had discovered a group of Bakemon and their leader, Soulmon, trying to resurrect Boogeymon back from the dead.

"We've got to stop them!" Bearmon said, horrified. "It took a lot from us to beat that demon yesterday, and now they are trying to restore him back!"

"How did they manage to do this?" Jon wondered. "Wizardmon had destroyed him when he transformed into that taller light-figure with a sword. He slashed Boogeymon clean with the sword. How can that ghost try to bring him back?"

"I don't think Boogeymon is destroyed completely," Kotemon interjected darkly. "Remember the data particles coming from Boogeymon after he was destroyed? Somehow Soulmon must have managed to regain those data and now he's trying to reconfigure Boogeymon."

"Oh man... I hate to say this but it seems like we're back in action," Darien said slowly, clutching his Digivice.

"What are you going to do? We can't just barge in there!" Jon hissed, and pulled Darien down. "There's a lot of them and two of us. We need to go back and gather the others."

Darien cast a look towards the Bakemon and Soulmon, trying to see whether the specters had heard them or not. Apparently they were too preoccupied with the ceremony to hear their loud hisses.

"Look. I don't want to wait until they succeeded in restoring Boogeymon. We have to stop them now, when Boogeymon isn't reconfigured yet. Maybe we can spoil their plan. Grizzmon and Dinohumon can handle those Bakemon... they don't really look THAT tough."

Jon and the two digimon thought about Darien's plan in silence. Then, Bearmon stepped close towards Darien.

"You know I'll always be with you, Darien, so let's do this," he said confidently.

Jon shook his head. "I still think we're gonna need reinforcements... but you're right. We've got no time to lose."

The four of them then stepped out from the thick bush they were hiding. Their sudden appearances instantly alerted the ghosts.

"Wow! A cookout? Why aren't we invited?" Darien called out. "To think we've saved you guys from a maniac demon and not get invited to your little party? Oh wait, I know why. You're loyal servants of Boogeymon aren't you? And now you're trying to bring him back from the dead. Now we're not going to allow you to do that, you hear? It took a lot out of us to finish him off, and we're not going to sit back letting you ghosts reconfigure him back."

"Talk about a dramatic entry," Jon muttered, shaking his head slightly.

Soulmon was surprised and enraged at the same time of the sudden interruption.

"Fools! How dare you intrude our hallowed ceremony? You shall pay dearly for that! Attack them, Bakemon!!" he hissed loudly.

"I don't think so," Darien said with a smirk, and took out his Digivice. "Ready, Bearmon!"

"You too, Kotemon."

"**Bearmon Digivolve to.... GRIZZMON!"**

"**Kotemon Digivolve to.... DINOHUMON!"**

Following Soulmon's command, all the Bakemon charged angrily towards the two digivolved Champions. Together they generated a high-pitched ghastly moan that momentarily spooked Grizzmon and Dinohumon, but seeing that they didn't proceed with any other attack except letting out moans that began to sound like an eerie sonata, the destined digimon quickly regained their stance.

Grizzmon counted the Bakemon inside his mind and turned to his friend. "There are ten of them. They're all yours, Dinohumon."

"With pleasure," Dinohumon replied with a grin. He charged forward and cried, "Lizard Dance!"

The Bakemon shrieked upon being sliced with Dinohumon's knives, but the dino-man found out that his efforts were in vain as he was only tearing up the Bakemon's sheets. Some of the sheets were burned with the fire generated from the knives, but it died out quickly as the Bakemon used sands to put out the fire. All Dinohumon managed to do was to make them more enraged than ever. The ten Bakemon dispersed into two directions, forming two groups of five. One group of Bakemon zoomed towards Dinohumon and all of their eyes suddenly glowed with bright red.

"It's the curse!" Jon gasped. "Be careful, Dinohumon!!"

"Hellish Hand!" the Bakemon summoned, and well-muscled blue hands shot out from their white sheets and Dinohumon found himself suddenly being pummeled in all directions. The Bakemon punched the defenseless Dinohumon viciously and caused the dino-man to collapse onto the ground.

"No! Dinohumon!" Jon cried.

Another group of Bakemon surrounded Grizzmon and unleashed their Hellish Hand attacks as well. However, Grizzmon merely sneered.

"Physical attacks are my forte. Bring it on, losers!"

The Bakemon instantly pounded Grizzmon onto the ground with all their might and the bear didn't even make an effort to fight back. Darien stayed back and smiled in satisfaction, knowing what was going to happen. However the Bakemon didn't, and continued to beat Grizzmon up brutally. Suddenly the battered-up Grizzmon roared loudly and his body glimmered with red aura. His body stiffened and released a blinding wave of light which stopped the Bakemon. The ghosts had to cover their blackened eyes with their sheets, and Grizzmon took the chance to attack.

"Counter Attack!" He roared, and with agility belying his massive size he leapt into the air and struck two Bakemon on the heads with his glowing paw, and deleted them instantly. The other three Bakemon then flitted away, scared of having to lead the same fate as their fallen comrades.

"Good job, Grizzmon!" Darien cheered. "Now, help Dinohumon quick... he seems to be losing."

"Dinohumon... losing? Give him more credit, Darien," Grizzmon replied cheerily, despite being hurt slightly after receiving the blows from the Bakemon. "He's merely at a disadvantage for having to fight viral digimon. But he'll come up with a comeback. Look!"

Darien and Jon shifted their attentions towards the fallen Dinohumon, and discovered that the dino-man was covered with yellow lights.

"He's going to attack with what evil digimon fear the most," Grizzmon supplied. "A holy attack. Those Bakemon don't stand a chance."

"Autumn Exorcism!" Dinohumon shouted, and waves of mystical autumn petals suddenly appeared out from his body and showered the five Bakemon around him. Two of the Bakemon found themselves being targeted with the leaves, and were deleted on the spot while the other three fled quickly towards their leader.

"Do you give up now?" Darien cried out to Soulmon and the fallen Bakemon.

"You worthless, asinine juveniles!" Soulmon shouted dismally. "There is no stopping me from resurrecting our master back! Behold!"

Lightning streaked out from the bonfire and suddenly the data particles resulted from the deleted Bakemon merged with the red data particles that were seen surrounding the bonfire earlier. The fire then blazed into the sky and formed a thick concentrated red cloud. All the data were absorbed into the cloud and a pair of crimson eyes then materialized on the cloud, with two large clawed spectral hands emerging from its sides.

"Lord Boogeymon! Welcome back!" Soulmon said in reverence. "The children tried to stop me, but I have succeeded my lord. I... your loyal servant Soulmon, have brought you back from the dead!"

The cloud's eyes shifted its attentions towards Soulmon.

"More power!!" It roared, in what was unmistakably sounded like Boogeymon's voice. It struck fear to everyone present.

"There's more power supply down there, lord Boogeymon. Two worthless brats and their partners," Soulmon said gleefully, then stopped when the cloud shot a deadly gaze towards him and the other surviving Bakemon. The eyes were narrowed, showing that it was somehow angered or dissatisfied with something. The reason became apparent soon after.

"I want more power!!" he boomed, and with a slash of his glowing claw, he instantly destroyed the remaining Bakemon who were all hovering in front of Soulmon. All five Bakemon were swiped away clean with one blow. Then, to Soulmon's horror the demonic cloud absorbed all of the data and grew a pair of legs underneath the clouds. A body with a pair of hands appeared next, followed by a pair of wings sprouting on the back. The cloud then took form of Boogeymon's head, and with a flash of lightning it instantly solidified and Boogeymon was returned back to the realm of the living. The demon was larger than before, his size increased two-fold than he was before.

"I'm back!" Boogeymon declared menacingly, and looked at his cowering servant. "Good work, Soulmon."

"Thank you, my lord," Soulmon replied weakly. He couldn't believe that Boogeymon had absorbed the data of his own servants.

"You don't seem to be impressed, my good servant," Boogeymon spoke, smiling in a sinister way while fixing his eyes onto Soulmon's shuddering form.

"No, my lord, I am happy for your return. As soon as those brats left Zero Mountain I quickly went there and retrieved your data, just as you have planned my lord. While all the foolish digimon were celebrating, we gathered all resources to make your return possible."

"Tell me Soulmon, do you agree with me absorbing the data of those Bakemon?"

Soulmon was flabbergasted. "Why... of course, my lord. We are to serve you, and be loyal to you always. Your act is not to be questioned."

"A good answer, Soulmon," Boogeymon replied. "But, your service is now officially over. Since you have done what you were assigned, I have no use for you anymore. Except for.... THIS!" Boogeymon then fired his Death Clash attack mercilessly towards Soulmon, deleting him instantly before devouring on his data. Soulmon's data completed his transformation as his black trident formed on his right hand.

The Digidestined were sickened to see how Boogeymon used his own servants in order to return to power. Even though Soulmon and the Bakemon were evil digimon working for Boogeymon, even they didn't deserve that kind of fate.

"You're vile!" Dinohumon yelled angrily. "How could you do that to your own servants?"

"Dinohumon, let's go!" Grizzmon shouted, and leapt into the air. "Crescent Dawn!"

"I'm with you! Autumn Exorcism!"

Both attacks blasted against Boogeymon's body but caused no bodily harm. Boogeymon then used his trident to fire several streaks of black lightning towards the two destined digimon. Grizzmon was hit, but Dinohumon evaded all attacks by surfing onto his blades.

"Death Clash!" Boogeymon shouted, spreading his wings wide and attacked Dinohumon by showering him with crimson sharp projectiles from his wings.

Dinohumon quickly countered with his Autumn Exorcism, but his mystical leaves were all slashed by Boogeymon's attack. Some of the projectiles severed his body, causing him to crash onto the ground beside Grizzmon. Both of them were already weakened from their scrap with the Bakemon, and none of them was a match to the demon.

"Oh no! Grizzmon!" Darien cried, rushing towards his partner.

"Dinohumon, are you alright?" Jon pleaded to his partner.

"He's... strong!" Grizzmon gasped.

"Our powers are no match against him!" Dinohumon added bitterly. "We're sitting ducks out here."

"I'm wasting my time; you two are pathetic," Boogeymon declared and let out a piercing laugh. His laughter echoed over the parish and throughout the island. He raised his trident up and black lightning bolts streaked out towards the sky. Thunders rumbled and the calm night suddenly became cloudy and winds blown all over.

"Let this be a marking of my return."

-

-

Meanwhile, after agreeing to Koemon's request for them to talk with Hookmon, the little monkey brought both Kira and Renamon to visit the Bane Buccaneer. Earlier, Renamon had excused herself to have a look around, for her to make sure that the ship was safe for them, while Kira and Koemon enjoyed the scenery on the vessel's upper deck where the navigator wheel was. She got acquainted with nearly all the Koemon of the ship, who were happy to have a lady on a ship, much to Kira's delight. After a while Renamon returned, bringing along with her rather shocking news.

"So are you telling me that Hookmon is a part of this Legion of Darkness?" Kira inquired after Renamon told her and Koemon all the details.

"Positive. I am not sure about Hookmon, but this Dragomon he was communicating with is definitely a part of the Legion. I overheard that he was referring to Boogeymon as his brother, and that he had sensed Boogeymon's presence on this island..."

"But that's impossible! We've beaten Boogeymon yesterday."

"I find it hard to believe either. It would take a long time for a digimon to be reconfigured after it has been deleted, and I thought one of the natural laws of the Digital World is to eliminate all the data of the digimon who have served the side of darkness during their lives. It is one of the safety measures to ensure the safety of the Digital World."

Koemon frowned. "I don't think the captain is a part of the Legion yet. If he is, then all of us should know of it."

"He could be hiding a lot of things from you," Kira pointed out. "Now we know he definitely wants to hand us over to Dragomon!"

"Please... don't tell me you're backing out now. At least talk to him first before you leave. I'll get him now," Koemon pleaded and began to run off towards the lower deck. He was about to climb down the stairs when a taller figure stood in front of him, blocking his way.

"There is no need for that, Koemon, for I am here."

Kira, Renamon and Koemon were surprised to see Hookmon was by the stairs. He motioned for Koemon to leave the upper deck before shifting his gaze towards Kira and Renamon. In the meantime, Kira signaled for Renamon to let her did all the talking.

"Well, well, well, ladies. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked, in a tone Kira thought as sickeningly sweet. He realized then that both Kira and Renamon were looking at him suspiciously. "Why the long looks?"

"You startled us, captain," Kira replied.

Hookmon took off his hat with his hooked hand and bowed slightly.

"Just Hookmon, please. My crew calls me captain, but uh... you two can just call me Hookmon."

Kira narrowed her eyes slightly as she frowned. "I rather just call you _traitor_."

The comment shocked Hookmon. "Traitor? Ladies, I should have you thrown overboard or walk the plank for that impetuous accusation."

"Well go ahead!" Kira said hotly. "We don't want to be in the same ship with those who work for the Legion of Darkness!"

"Ah..." Hookmon came into realization as he gazed towards Renamon. "Is there any reason for me to believe that you were there by my private cabin just recently?"

Renamon remained silent, merely replying with a piercing stare.

Hookmon cleared his throat uncomfortably. "To clear up any confusion, let me tell you that my crew and I are free. Dragomon pays me, yes, but I don't serve him. While the rest of the Digital World bows to the Legion of Darkness, we roam the sea."

"But you also make a living by stealing other digimon's properties! That's what you pirates are, even back in my home world," Kira declared.

"But we are free, and that's all that matters!" Hookmon interjected.

Kira smiled a sad smile before approaching Hookmon. "As long as the Legion of Darkness is here in this world, nobody is truly free, including you," she said softly.

"You speak bold words... err... I believe I still haven't got your names."

"My name is Kira, and my partner is Renamon."

Hookmon bowed again. "Very well, miss Kira. I shall think of what you've just said."

Suddenly, Koemon appeared again from the stairs. "Captain, there's a transmission coming from the Ocean of Sorrow."

Hookmon smiled apologetically towards Kira and Renamon. "But not now. I must go."

Kira smirked. "Of course. Your _master_ calls."

"Don't push me too far," Hookmon warned and stormed away, brushing past the bewildered Koemon.

"I am impressed," Renamon stated, sounding awed. "I have to admit, I have never thought of you to be able to come up with such daring words."

Kira grinned. "Thanks, Renamon. Actually it's just something I managed to come up with, thanks to my experience of participating with drama class since kindergarten. It really took out a lot of guts to face Hookmon like that. I admit that I was scared as well."

"You did not look afraid to me back then," Renamon pointed out.

"So what happens know?" Koemon asked.

"Well..." Kira began, looking towards Renamon and Koemon with a slight smile. "I think we're getting to him!"

-

-

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I've altered the names of Bakemon's Japanese attack name. It is originally Hell's Hand, I wrote it as Hellish Hand.

To **Hahn **and **Sukara-Nodori**, thanks for the reviews. Things are going to get even more complicated now that Boogeymon has returned.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**:: SPECIAL PRESENTATION: CHARACTER PROFILE ::**

**Name:** Darien Kanemuchi

**Age:** 14

**Hair:** Straight, slightly longer than Max's hair with bangs, dark brown

**Eyes:** Clear, dark brown, shaped like Willis's eyes

**Body type:** Lean, athletic, tall, slightly tanned

**General Appearance: **Mould based on Willis (Digimon Movie) with slightly longer hair

**Clothes Description:** A red tank top over a black unbuttoned short-sleeved shirt, black jeans, red snickers, a pair of goggles on his head with red trimmings.

**Partner Digimon:** Bearmon

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**


	13. Escalation

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 13 – Escalation _**

_**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

-

The clear night sky had turned into a murky shade of dark grey as streaks of red and black lightning shot through the sky, emitting thunders every few seconds. However the strange phenomenon seemed to be focusing solely on the northeast region of the island – where an abandoned village called Shadow Parish was located.

Shadow Parish was originally a village for a small number of Rookie digimon who had left Primary Village, but hadn't enough experience to roam the island on their own. The founder, a wizened MudFrigimon, kindly took them under his wing and together they lived in peace. At one time, Bearmon and Kotemon had lived there as well before they ended up in the real world where they met their partners. During their absence, Shadow Parish was invaded by Soulmon and his ghastly Bakemon followers under the order of Boogeymon, forcing the original occupants of the parish to flee. The demonic digimon had entrusted Soulmon with his back-up plan when he had sensed Max's coming over the island, determined to defeat the legends prophesied by the digimon ancestors.

-

Boogeymon stared at his two defeated opponents with disgust. It didn't take a lot of his power to defeat Grizzmon and Dinohumon; the two Digimon, while being at the same level as he, were lacking experiences. He contemplated for a moment whether to finish them off this instant and load their data, or toy around with them again. Finally, he decided to make the destined digimon suffer a slow and painful death.

"Necro Magic," he said, summoning Soulmon's energy-absorbing technique. His claws glowed with dark lavender aura, and Boogeymon directed them towards the destined digimon. Instantly, red and green waves of data left Grizzmon and Dinohumon and began to enter Boogeymon's claws. The crimson devil felt a new sensation of power flowing through his veins, energizing him as more of his enemies' data poured to him. At the same time, Grizzmon and Dinohumon felt their powers being drained, and felt weaker as seconds passed by. Boogeymon watched with glee as his foes reverted back to their Rookie selves and let out laughter of triumph.

"Darien, we have to do something," Jon said desperately, as he tugged the sleeve of the older boy's black shirt. "Our partners are in danger!"

"What can we do?" Darien replied helplessly. His clear brown eyes reflected fear, and he was sweating. Not knowing what to do, the boy raised his right hand subconsciously and was treated with a pleasant surprise. The Digivice he was holding suddenly flared with scarlet lights and surrounded Bearmon with it. Boogeymon's magical attack was instantly deflected back to the demon himself.

Jon immediately followed suit and Kotemon was protected as well.

"Clever," Boogeymon muttered, not losing his cool. His yellowish eyes glinted with malice which was reflected in his tone of voice. "Very clever, brats. I've forgotten about how much the Digivices could do in dire situation such as this. But no matter, I have all the energy I need to ascend to perfection!"

While the Digidestined were confused, Boogeymon raised both his hands towards the sky and summoned all the powers he had absorbed from the Bakemon, Soulmon, Grizzmon and Dinohumon. He felt raw power surging within his body, propelling him into new heights of power. Lightning shot towards his pitchfork, and black and red aura surrounded him as he yelled an echoing cry into the dark night sky.

"**Boogeymon Digivolve to..."**

-

-

Hookmon was back inside his private cabin, being told by one of his crew that Dragomon had summoned him again. While heading there, the pirate couldn't stop thinking of what Kira had said to him earlier. However he brushed any thoughts aside upon entering the room, not wanting Dragomon to have any suspicion on him.

"Hookmon," Dragomon greeted through the projection he'd used earlier. Hookmon noted that there was a rushed tone in his voice.

"Something wrong, Dragomon?"

"Yes. . . I would have thought that I am mistaken, but it seems that my fellow brother, Boogeymon, is indeed back on the island you are currently at. I have sensed his presence, and I can recognize his energy patterns anywhere. However there is some alteration in his pattern – he seems to have acquired some new data to add to his own, and the data is making him more powerful. Perhaps he will take care of the Digidestined after all. . ."

Hookmon leaned against the wall and sneered. "So does this mean you don't want me to send those kids to you anymore?"

"There will no longer be need for that . . . this is Boogeymon's battle as far as I am concerned, and I will not interrupt unless it is absolutely necessary. I have enough matter to take care of by now. IceDevimon's forces are continuously launching an assault to my underground castle. My experimentations on the digimon under my servitude prove to be disastrous; I will need the delivery as soon as possible to strengthen my remaining army, as IceDevimon has somehow successfully persuaded the experimented digimon to turn against me and support him instead."

"Anyone would, considering your treatment to them," Hookmon snorted. "Your stupid experiments will cost you greatly someday, Dragomon. When that time comes, don't even think of calling me for help. I don't agree with you, but I will deliver the thing you've ordered."

Dragomon stared at Hookmon glaringly before replying. "See that it will, or I will personally come and sought it from you myself. If it happens, then there will be no payment for the artifact I have asked you to deliver." The projection of Dragomon then disappeared in a blink of the eye before Hookmon managed to reply. Huffing in annoyance, the captain walked out from his chamber, wanting to see what his guests were doing in the meantime.

-

"It breaks my heart Kira, to see the captain sells out to the Legion of Darkness," Koemon began saying as he took Kira and Renamon for a tour around the Bane Buccaneer. The guide sounded genuinely sad and bitter, Kira couldn't help but to pity him.

"One day the captain will see that money is not as important as freedom," Kira assured, while Renamon remained silent.

Koemon nodded. "My hope is that day won't be so far off."

They continued their tour over the magnificent vessel for another few minutes, exploring every parts of the upper and lower decks of the top floor before Koemon excused himself to get something for the three of them to eat from the chef. Kira quickly told Koemon that it wasn't necessary, but the guide replied that he just wanted to be hospitable. It wasn't often that they were honored with guests, especially female ones. In fact, Kira and Renamon learnt that they were the first females ever to step on the pirate ship. Koemon returned ten minutes later, carrying a basket with both hands and seemed to be struggling with it, as the basket was almost as big as him. Shaking her head pitifully Renamon darted forwards and retrieved the basket from Koemon. The monkey guide was grateful for the help.

"I'm quite surprised that the captain actually invited you up here," Koemon said as he spread out a small red mat on the lower deck. The guide wanted to treat his guests to a picnic on the ship. Then all three of them sat themselves and Koemon quickly put on the food items he'd brought from the kitchen.

"Oh and why's that?" Kira asked, helping herself with something that looked like a cupcake. It tasted delicious. Renamon however sniffed the cake suspiciously before deciding that it was alright for her to eat.

Koemon shrugged. "He believed that females on the ship will only bring bad luck. But I think it's just a silly superstition."

"It's a pirate superstition," Kira agreed. "I think Darien told me about it once, when we saw a movie about pirates."

They enjoyed the rest of their meals in silence, and Kira called out for the other crew to join in with them. However the other Koemon politely turned down the offer as they still had works to be done. Kira then noticed that her partner was being unnaturally silent for a very long time already.

"Something's bothering you, Renamon?" She asked.

Renamon started slightly before returning to her calm demeanor. "As a matter of fact, there is. I feel that there is something strange is going on. Something is not right."

Kira raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying, Renamon? Do you think we're in danger?"

Renamon inhaled deeply before answering Kira's question. "Somehow, after receiving the power boost from Tentomon and the others back then, I think my senses have increased as well. I become well-attuned to my surroundings, and my prowess has somehow increased, giving me more strength and flexibility. And right now. . . I sense something dangerous coming our way. I don't know exactly what, but I do know that I will not like it."

Before Kira could answer, suddenly they heard the sound of the other crews shouting at the end of the deck. As their views were obscured by the sails none of them could learn of the reason. The crews were heard telling somebody to get off the Bane Buccaneer. Intrigued, Renamon quickly got up and zipped past Kira and Koemon to investigate, disappearing out of sight in the process. The reason became apparent when several Koemon were thrown all over the deck by a group of three grayish creatures with white underbellies that looked pretty much amphibian. They were short and rather stocky, with big lips and gloomy looking eyes. Fins were attached on their hands, and their feet ended with duck-like flippers.

"Take the human," one of the intruders commanded. The other two quickly approached Kira and Koemon.

"Kira, RUN! I'll block them!" Koemon ordered as he pushed Kira away. He then produced a sling shot on his hand and quickly attacked the intruders that were closing in on them. However the two amphibians easily brushed Koemon aside and made way towards Kira.

"Koemon!" Kira shouted in concern seeing that the little monkey's effort to protect her was futile. She was disgusted to see the amphibians leering towards her, and attempted to run. However her legs felt weak, her knees were wobbling and there was nothing she could do. To her relief, suddenly Renamon materialized by her side, readying to blast the amphibians away with her Diamond Storm.

Unfortunately, the white projectiles didn't seem to even bother the two amphibians. They on the other hand each fashioned a harpoon on their webbed hands and shot those harpoons towards Renamon. Renamon's right feet and shoulder were stabbed and she slumped on the ground helplessly. One of the amphibians then raised a hand towards the fallen fox and splattered her with jet black liquid that glued Renamon in place. She struggled to break free but failed.

"Renamon!" Kira cried helplessly as she was surrounded by the amphibians. "Renamon, help me!"

Hearing her partner's pleas caused Renamon to struggle even harder, but to no avail. She was stuck. "Kira . . . I'm sorry. I have failed you."

"The human shall come with us," one of the amphibians spoke.

"You will join us and be our queen," the second one added.

The third amphibian creature grabbed Kira's hands and lifted her up in a surprisingly gentle manner. "Our chosen maiden . . ." it rasped. "We've sought you to help us for our cause. You . . . are our only hope!"

"No, I don't want to! Please let me go!" Kira cried in horror, and struggled with all her might to break free from the amphibian's grasp. However, the amphibian seemed to have a strong grip as well as it was gentle. She felt tears stinging her eyes as her heartbeats accelerated. She was now scared out of her wits.

"What's going on here?" A gruff voice suddenly demanded as the sound of a door creaking was heard. Kira immediately recognized the voice.

"Hookmon? Hookmon, please help me!" she pleaded urgently.

Hookmon appeared from the door leading towards the lower floors of the ship, and gasped in disgust upon the sight in front of him.

"Scubamon! Take your slimy hands off the girl!" he bawled angrily, but was ignored. Seeing that his threat went unnoticed, he aimed his cannon-hand towards the amphibians that weren't holding Kira. "Captain Cannon!" A cannonball sped across the ship towards the ones Hookmon called the Scubamon, but the amphibians then erected a bubble around them and Kira to protect them from the cannonball. Upon contact, the bubble bounced the cannonball harmlessly into the waters below. The bubble then raised itself mysteriously and as if an invisible force was maneuvering it, the bubble was thrown into the sea. The last thing Hookmon, Renamon and the Koemon heard were Kira's whimpers of help before it dissipated inside the dark waters.

-

-

Max's eyes snapped open suddenly when he felt something square in shape was nudging his ribs. Mumbling slightly, he was relieved to only find ToyAgumon; his cubical hand was poking his body in an attempt to wake him up from his slumber.

"ToyAgumon . . ." he said wearily, rubbing his eyes. "What's up?"

The toy digimon's expression was aghast, which was clearly reflected by his olive eyes. "Max . . . something bad is happening. I can feel it."

The redhead immediately got up, feeling slightly alarmed. He tried vainly to stifle a yawn. Then he noticed beeping sounds coming from his Digivice, which he kept inside his jeans pocket. The device was pulsating, as if trying to communicate with them. Max knew that something was definitely wrong. Max signaled ToyAgumon to keep his voice down, and together the duo crept away from the shack they were sleeping in as not to wake Leomon and Tokomon, who seemed undisturbed.

They met up with Kanto and Wizardmon, who also seemed to be troubled by something. The older boy noticed that Kanto's Digivice was also pulsating. They exchanged quick greetings and Max showed the younger boy his Digivice.

"What do you think is happening?" Kanto asked, sounding puzzled.

"I'm not sure myself," Max replied, and had a look around. "Haven't the others returned back here?"

The younger boy shrugged. "Not yet. There's no sign of them."

"Something's odd is happening in the north-east part of the island . . ." Wizardmon said, both his eyes were closed. He held his staff high towards the sky, and the wooden sun carved on its upper end radiated with faint blue lights. Muttering what sounded like "Magical Game", Wizardmon lowered his staff and opened his eyes.

Everyone was surprised to see that the sun on Wizardmon's staff was no longer just a wooden carving, but was displaying something. It was like watching muted scenes from a movie. It first showed a group of ghost-like creatures surrounding a bonfire, chanting. Then the scene changed, showing a larger ghost wearing a black pointed hat chanting something the four of them could not hear. Then, Darien and Jon were shown with their partners interrupting the ghosts' ceremony. Grizzmon and Dinohumon were then seen battling the ghosts before the scene changed again, and this time around Kanto gasped.

"Boogeymon!" he exclaimed, as the staff showed Boogeymon returned back from the dead. Max and ToyAgumon were shocked to see their nemesis again and peered closer to the staff. The demon, whom they'd thought was defeated for good, had returned in such a short while. Boogeymon was seen killing off all the remaining ghosts and absorbed their data. Then Grizzmon and Dinohumon engaged Boogeymon in a battle, and lost as their own powers were taken by Boogeymon as well.

"They need our help!" Max declared. "ToyAgumon, let's go!"

"Wait!" Wizardmon grabbed Max's hand with his free hand, stopping the eldest Digidestined from leaving. "There's more!"

The wizard digimon then pointed his staff towards a different direction. This time, the staff showed Kira and Renamon discovering a strange vessel on the shores of the island. A pirate like digimon was seen talking with them, and then a small green monkey-like digimon was seen in their company. After that, the scene changed, showing Kira and Renamon boarding up the ship. Then the scene shifted again, revealing a battle escalating on the ship. The small monkey made known earlier was seen sprawled on the wooden floor of the highest deck of the ship as three grey creatures were seen surrounding Kira. Renamon was seen to be covered with black liquid which seemed to be immobilizing her. The creatures surrounded themselves and Kira with a bubble and took her away from the ship by jumping off the ship, into the sea.

"No . . ." Kanto whispered. "Kira's gone . . ."

"I don't think so, as of yet," Wizardmon said as his staff stopped glowing. "But she is in grave danger, especially since she's separated from Renamon."

"What should we do now?" Max demanded impatiently, wriggling his hand to free it from Wizardmon's tight grasp. "All of them need our help!"

"We should split up," Wizardmon decided hastily and let go of Max's hand. "I don't like this as well, but both parties need us. I and Kanto . . . will go to help Darien and Jon, while Max and ToyAgumon should go over to the beach and try to save Kira."

"No," Max argued. "Let me and ToyAgumon go and fight Boogeymon, you and Kanto should go to that ship."

"Max . . . we need Wizardmon to turn into that warrior with the sword we saw yesterday to beat Boogeymon again," Kanto reasoned.

"I don't know whether I can do that anymore . . ." Wizardmon said quietly. "It worked last time when there were all five of you together. Now that Kira's been abducted, we're one Digidestined short."

"I thought you have all the powers of Tentomon and the other three, inside of you now?" Kanto asked.

"No . . . while fighting Boogeymon, I merely collected the powers to use it in aiding my own," Wizardmon answered thoughtfully. "I've never had all of it for my own. ToyAgumon, Bearmon, Kotemon and Renamon still have those powers as well as I do."

"That's why it would be better for me and ToyAgumon to go fight Boogeymon," Max insisted. "ToyAgumon stands a better chance to face Boogeymon. He has an edge against the demon. And, he's the more experienced one." He then promptly advanced ToyAgumon into his Champion self.

"Leave Boogeymon to me," Veedramon growled.

Wizardmon finally nodded. "Alright, you have a point there. But I'm afraid Boogeymon's power has increased than before. Veedramon wasn't his match then, and I doubted he is now. Please be careful." Upon the comment, Veedramon looked slightly insulted but decided to overlook it.

"We will," Max promised, and boarded on Veedramon's back. "Let's go, Veedramon!"

The blue dragon roared and took off immediately, not realizing that his roar had woken up most of the occupants of Primary Village. Leomon appeared, and he seemed to be heaving loudly, having thought that someone had intruded the village. Cries of baby digimon were heard, causing Tokomon to wake up as well on reflex, despite being undisturbed by Veedramon's deafening roar. The In-training quickly went on to inspect the babies while Leomon approached Kanto and Wizardmon. The duo immediately explained what was happening, and the lion master's eye bulged.

"That devil . . ." he growled angrily. "Why did he have to return . . . I'm going to follow Max and Veedramon. They will need all the help they can get." Without waiting for any reply, Leomon ran past them and disappeared into the dark woods where Veedramon had gone through seconds ago.

Wizardmon took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess it's time for us to go too. Maybe we can figure out a way to find Kira."

Looking past Wizardmon's shoulder and towards the extremely busy Tokomon sympathetically, Kanto nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

-

-

Deep underwater, a glowing grayish bubble shot past the marine creatures of the sea heading for the base. Inside there were four figures – three identical amphibians known as the Scubamon, and a presumably unconscious girl – Kira. There was, however, something different about the Scubamon. No longer were they the stocky creatures with webbed feet. They had grown taller and slimmer, and all colors seemed to fade from their body, leaving them with only murky grey fleshes.

One of the amphibians was forced to carry the passed out Kira with both hands. However the Scubamon did not complain one bit. Instead, they were satisfied. Their mission was completed. The other two Scubamon inspected Kira closely, and murmured among them.

"Is she really the one?" one of them asked.

The other Scubamon nodded. "She has to be. She's the chosen maiden."

The one who was carrying Kira studied her intently. "She's fainted." He said finally, stating the obvious.

"Humph. Fragile creature these humans are, I'd say," the first Scubamon snorted. "It's even better though; that way, IceDevimon can easily gain access to her mind. She will then obey to him."

The three Scubamon laughed stupidly together and diverted their eyes away from Kira's face. It was at the same moment when one of her brown eyes opened slightly, before it closed again leaving only a very thin opened line covered with her eyelashes, just enough space for her to see where she was currently at. She noticed and decided that the Scubamon, while strong and full with determination, weren't exactly the brightest digimon she had ever encountered. However her situation was still precarious and she didn't like the sound of what her abductors were talking about. She was scared, especially without Renamon at her side to protect her, she was on her own. She silently prayed that her friends would come for her, and until they did, she would have to buy them some time.

-

As the bubble went past a huge rock, nobody noticed the small, blue tadpole like creature perching on top of it. The tadpole, Otamamon, however saw a very peculiar sight inside the bubble and was shocked. It immediately slid down the rock and swam away towards the opposite direction where the bubble was heading, moving as fast as it could muster.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter may sound confusing, but for now please bear with me. To get the idea, I suggest watching Digimon 02's _"His Master's Voice"_, though I'm basing on the original version, not the dubbed one. As usual, I would like to extend my gratitude to **Hahn** and **Sukara-Nodori** for reviewing the previous chapter. The plot will have more twists and turns in the future, so stay tuned.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**:: SPECIAL PRESENTATION: CHARACTER PROFILE ::**

**Name:** Kira Kanemuchi

**Age:** 11

**Hair:** Straight, long, light (sandy) brown, set in pigtails with a few escaped bangs falling down her forehead.

**Eyes:** Clear, light brown, (like Mimi's eyes)

**Body type:** Thin, with fair skin, slightly short

**General Appearance: **Mould based on Kari and Jeri's personalities, with Mimi's attitudes and compassion.

**Clothes Description:** A cream-white blouse worn under a pink dress that goes straight to her knees. She also wears a pink hat, a white pair of socks and sneakers.

**Partner Digimon:** Renamon

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**


	14. Dangerous Games

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

_**Chapter 14 – Dangerous Games **_

_**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

-

Darien and Jon watched in horror as Boogeymon was covered with swirling black and red smokes erupting with eerie hissing sounds. The demon grew taller, and let out a roar as his wings spread out in the air as he began his transformation. Purple wings became blood-red, and its outer linings darkened to the deepest shade of obsidian. Boogeymon's torso, earlier pot-bellied, grew much more muscular and shining black armor adorned his shoulders and surrounded his neck, forming a black collar which seemed too large for him. The same armor clasped on his lower extremities as well. Raising his trident up to the air, red lightning struck it with a deafening thunder – transforming it into a longer, pointier burgundy one. The smokes then dissipated, revealing a fearsome Digimon which struck fear into the hearts of each and every one of those around him. No longer had the digimon had any resemblance to the formerly Champion demon; Boogeymon's new form had a more humane, albeit scarlet, face with two pointed horns, a pair of green eyes and ebony hair sprouting on it. He looked intimidating, unlike his previous form. Smiling evilly, the new digimon declared his name with a deep, echoing and proud voice.

"**Boogeymon, Digivolve to... PHELESMON!" **

While the two Digidestined stared towards their newly-digivolved foe with a mixture of fear and hatred, their partners digimon were much more surprised to watch a new level above Champion. It was quite unheard of inside the island, although they had heard stories about it happening at the world outside the island.

"Oh, no!" Darien gasped. Sweat began to form on his forehead, out of fear he was feeling. "What do we do now?"

On the other hand, Jon posed no question; instead he nervously took out his glasses from his shirt pocket and wore it to take a better look on Phelesmon, and cowered slightly. Everything about this new digimon spelled out bad news to him.

Phelesmon sneered upon the question, revealing a set of white fangs. "Now, say hello to your ends, pathetic ones!" He declared, and pointed his trident towards his four adversaries. The devil decided not to waste anymore time and wanted to finish them as quickly as possible. Pointing his trident, he chuckled evilly and said, "On second thought, scratch that. Say GOODBYE instead!"

While Darien and Jon gasped in shock, the two Rookie digimon jumped in front of their partners boldly, readying fists and kendo sticks in an effort to stop Phelesmon. Seeing their action, the crimson devil couldn't help but to laugh heartily. Undaunted, Bearmon and Kotemon stared defiantly towards Phelesmon, while Darien and Jon contemplated on what to do.

"Impertinent ruffians!" Phelesmon roared, withdrawing his trident and opened his mouth wide. "Demon's Shout!"

A concentrated amount of lavender supersonic waves erupted from Phelesmon's mouth, followed by ghostly, deafening sounds that could only produced by an assortment of demonic screeching. Darien and Jon had to close their ears by clasping their palms tightly on them to block out the sounds, but even by doing so they still could hear the shouts. It struck their nerves, and the two boys felt as if they were hearing the death call itself. As a result, both of them trembled violently and collapsed on the grounds, nearly knocked out unconscious if it weren't for Bearmon and Kotemon. The two Rookies saw that their partners were in danger, and jumped in the way, receiving the full blow of the shouts.

As digimon, Bearmon and Kotemon were more affected by Phelesmon's Demon's Shout. They began to crackle; a sign of digimon who had lost a lot of energy. They dropped on their knees, their energies all wasted after receiving the attack.

"No!" Both Digidestined cried as their partners slumped weakly on their outstretched arms.

"Why did you do it, Bearmon?" Darien asked with shaking voice. "You could've been killed. I saw it, your data . . . why did you jump in the way?"

The bear cub shook his head and choked slightly. "Darien . . . don't worry, I'll be fine. Though I am hurt, a little . . ." he moaned, and rubbed both his paws together. "I'll recover though." Darien smiled in relief, knowing now that his partner was alright.

"Kotemon . . ." Jon choked, as his visions were obscured by tears. He couldn't muster himself to say anything else as his partner had suffered the bigger blow. A drop of tear fell through the holes on the fencing mask worn by Kotemon, and onto Kotemon's hidden face.

"Jon. . . please don't cry," Kotemon said, struggling to get up again. "I'll fight him again. . . I'll protect you, Jon. Have faith in me."

Phelesmon let out a howl of laughter. "Neither of you weak digimon have the power to stop me now! I AM UNBEATABLE! HA HA HA HA HA!"

Darien shot his head up and glared towards Phelesmon. "We'll see about that," he spat angrily. "One way or another, you're still going down!"

"Really?" Phelesmon said mockingly. "I'd love to see how."

Suddenly before anyone could take any action, a green blur shot past the Digidestined from behind and stood in front of them. The tall newcomer was familiar, with muscular green body, long white hair, horns and leather ripped trousers. He had his back on them, but even without seeing his face both Digidestined and both digimon immediately recognized him. He was. . .

"What are you doing here, Ogremon?" Kotemon asked timidly.

Ogremon turned his face towards the little samurai. "Shut up, idiot! I've come to help you, what else!"

"Huh? To help us?" Both Digidestined were dumbstruck upon hearing it, and didn't know how to respond.

"I don't believe what you've just said," Bearmon said suspiciously.

"You worked for him before," Darien said with knitted brows.

"Say whatever you want, brats, but I have a score to settle with him as well!" Ogremon snapped, and turned back to face Phelesmon.

Phelesmon scowled slightly upon hearing what Ogremon had just said, but composed himself quickly. "Ogremon, come and join me once more. Together we shall crush these foolish Digidestined and their partners forever, and you shall be greatly rewarded by the Legion of Darkness!" he offered.

Ogremon let out a laugh and raised a hand with the palm raised upward; a sign showing disinterest. "Sorry! Not today, and not interested!"

"Then you shall die with those pitiful riff raffs as well! Demon's Shout!"

"Bone Cudgel!" Ogremon quickly retaliated by throwing his white bone-stick towards Phelesmon.

As the scarlet demon was launching his assault, he wasn't quick enough to avoid Ogremon's attack and thus was hit on the stomach. Nevertheless, he wasn't hurt but Ogremon's cudgel instead bounced towards the ground. Ogremon however, aside from flinching horribly, looked unhurt.

"You shout like a GIRL!" Ogremon insulted loudly. "I'll show you how a _manly_ attack is supposed to be done! Pummel Whack!" Ogremon aimed a punch towards Phelesmon and let out a wave of concentrated air from his knuckles. While it did hit Phelesmon on the stomach again, once again it didn't really cause much harm.

"Look who's talking," Phelesmon sneered. He took aim with his trident and shot Ogremon mercilessly with multiple crimson thunderbolts, shocking the ogre digimon. "What do you say now, you mindless piece of trash?"

Ogremon was stunned by both the thunderbolts, and shook his head slightly to clear out the sense of disorientation he was feeling as the result of being struck by the thunderbolts. He was hurt, physically, which was pretty much evident by the multiple scorch marks and cuts on his exposed green torso. Even his originally white hair had turned into a crispy shade of grey. However Ogremon was determined not to show any sign of weakness, despite knowing by then that he wasn't Phelesmon's match. Instead, he turned his head behind towards the two Rookies.

"Get your lazy butts up and help me out here! I can't face this guy alone!" he hissed urgently.

Bearmon and Kotemon, who had managed to recover slightly from Phelesmon's attack, were surprised upon hearing Ogremon's order. Unfortunately they were too weak to aid Ogremon, having battled a digimon whose level was higher than Champion and had barely survived it if not for Ogremon's sudden intervention. While Ogremon's comings saved them from being finished off by Phelesmon, the ogre wasn't exactly a match for the newly-digivolved demon. They would need more help.

"Sorry," both Rookie digimon said apologetically.

"Drats!" Ogremon muttered, and turned back to face Phelesmon again, silently agreeing that he would need more help. At this rate, he almost wished for anyone to show up. "Even that uptight Leomon," he muttered.

And, as if on cue, two more familiar figures leapt out from the woods. It looked like Ogremon had gotten his wish.

-

-

Leomon had caught up with Max and Veedramon, and together they made their way towards Shadow Parish. Their journey was a silent one, and Veedramon seemed agitated judging by the way he stomped onto anything that blocked his path. Leomon in the meantime, veiled his feelings rather well and trailed behind the dragon cautiously. There was no mistaking the reason of the digimon's frustration though; just once when they thought that they had finally evicted one of the Legion of Darkness from the island, it made its return. Furthermore with their friends' lives at stake, all three of them were more than eager to reach the village where the battle was ensuing.

From afar, they could make out a large demonic figure surrounded by black and red smokes, with lightning streaking from the clouds. They watched as Boogeymon made his transformation into what seemed like another devilish digimon who carried himself with dark regality.

"Hang in there guys," Max said silently. "We'll be there."

"Look up there! Boogeymon has digivolved!" Veedramon exclaimed disbelievingly. "How's THAT possible?"

All of them stopped walking instantly as they had already reached the entrance of Shadow Parish. However it was not the main entrance – it seemed like it was a forgotten entrance from the other side of the village. It seemed that they had unwittingly taken an alternate path to the parish. There was nothing there but a small dilapidated hut which was covered with cobwebs and rotten planks. Thick woods ensued ahead, with a trail leading towards the center of the village where the commotion was.

"There's just one way to find out," Leomon replied as he darted towards the trail. Veedramon and Max followed closely.

They made it in the center silently, and to their relieves their friends seemed to be in good health, although the digimon looked very drained. Then an unexpected sight greeted them, in the form of a familiar green ogre digimon.

"What's HE doing here?" Leomon growled, but his tone changed slightly as he saw Ogremon seemed like he was defending the Digidestined from the demon.

"I don't believe it," Max muttered as he watched Ogremon. "He's HELPING Darien and Jon? Has he turned over a new leaf?"

Leomon shook his head slightly. "It's too early to make any judgment. Personally I don't trust him that much . . . but who knows?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But it does seem like he is helping out." Leomon and Veedramon both muttered their agreements, and observed as Ogremon was losing the battle with Phelesmon. They knew that they had to step in quickly, but first . . .

"Max, you have to get to the others from the back," Veedramon said urgently. "Things are just gonna get ugly around here."

Hesitating momentarily, Max sighed out, "Alright."

The redhead teenager jumped off his partner's back, and gave a thumbs-up as a symbol of good luck before vanishing into the darkness of the woods. He then emerged from behind the Digidestined, surprising them slightly, and once again he flashed a thumb up. Taking the cue, Veedramon and Leomon prepared to initiate attacks, and upon seeing Ogremon was being struck by streaks of thunderbolts from the demon's trident they quickly leapt forward and charged.

"Fist of the Beast King!"

"V-Nova Blast!"

-

-

Deep down under the sea, Otamamon was swimming into a dark chasm. He seemed to be focused on getting down there as quickly as possible, judging by the way he was flipping his tiny fins and tail. Despite the darkness as he went further down the abyss, Otamamon had a clear vision which suited the situation. This enabled him to navigate his way easily. He then looked around momentarily until he saw a very faint flicker of green light amidst the dark grey background. Smiling, the tadpole used the light as a beacon and swam towards it. When he was closer, the light was revealed to be a concentrated amount of glowing moss growing in an inch square diameter against the barren wall. Under the mosses, Otamamon saw that he had reached a large opening – an entrance into a cave. The opening was so big it could even fit anyone bigger than him a thousand-fold. Inhaling deeply, and releasing bubbles from his mouths and gills at the same time, the little tadpole swam into the cave.

Entering the cave, Otamamon no longer needed to depend solely on his eyes as somehow, it was getting brighter there. Instead of pure black like it was at the outside, the walls inside the cave took on a more yellowish hue. At first the cave's passage took Otamamon even further down the chasm until it felt as if he had reached the deepest underwater grounds. Then, he saw a flight of stairs made out of mon-made green stones, and followed it without the need to climb it as he was able to swim his way. While the passage had led him down the cave, the stairs seemed to be heading somewhere up. Otamamon was nearing the surface of the water, and leapt out from it when he was near enough.

He landed on the stairs smoothly on his stubby hind legs, and by now he was inside a massive underground cave which somehow, wasn't filled with the sea water. By hopping up the stairs, Otamamon finally arrived at his destination: an old underwater temple which was built inside a cave. He took in the stale air of the cavern and choked slightly; he really preferred the fresher air outside.

The temple was dimly lit by glowing mosses that crept nearly all over the walls and among the depressions that were present on it. The mosses were the same one which grew on the entrance of the cave Otamamon had taken earlier. An aged red carpet covered the floor of the cave, and several scrolls which looked ancient were hung on the walls of the cave. Some old and broken statues stood along the walls, hardly meant for decoration purposes. It was a gloomy sight to behold; the temple looked dilapidated and seemed to be out of use for a long time. Everything regarding of it looked ancient, except for the one at the center.

At the center of the temple, a large armored figure was seen sitting in a meditating position. Otamamon looked in awe as he took in the figure's tall stature, white armor which seemed to be broken in all places, the apparently torn red cape, and its hands – which perhaps were the strangest sight to behold. One of it was orange in color, and shaped like a helmet with horns. The other was blue, with a lupine shape. Both hands looked dull and scorched, as if they had seen better days.

"Welcome, my friend," the figure said with a low voice, and opened his eyes which were hidden behind the orifices of the broken white helmet he was wearing. Those orbs were light blue in color. His voice, while sounded impressive, had a tone of friendliness in it. "What brings you here, Otamamon?"

"Lord Omnimon," Otamamon greeted, perching only a foot away from the figure's large physique. "I have interesting news for you."

"Now, now, Otamamon," the one referred as Lord Omnimon said with a sigh. "What did I tell you about the need of formalities around here? I'd have none of it, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't help it, Omnimon," Otamamon said sheepishly with a grin. "It might be easier when you were just Rookies, but now you're so big and powerful . . . a digimon of the highest level. And I'm just another Rookie."

Omnimon chuckled slightly. "With powers come responsibility and I'm afraid I haven't done a good job on that one."

"You've done all you can, Omnimon," the tadpole replied soothingly. "It's not your fault the Legion of Darkness invaded our world."

"I'm given the responsibilities by the Harmonious Ones to protect our world from evil, and look what happened."

The little blue huffed. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I don't see those five big-shots doing anything . . . and it's been a decade already!"

"Has it been that long already?" Omnimon mused, sounding genuinely clueless. "How time flies . . ."

"Adecade isn't THAT long in the Digital World, you know that," Otamamon reminded.

"Silly old me," Omnimon said. "Anyway, what is this news you have brought for me? Is it a bad news?"

Otamamon quickly related what he had seen and heard, while Omnimon listened silently without interrupting the tadpole.

"So the Digidestined are finally here . . . after all these times," Omnimon whispered silently after his tadpole friend finished relating the current events happening on File Island. "Perhaps it's time for me to come out again."

"You've been cooped in here for too long already. Don't you miss the world outside?"

"I do, but I'm afraid my injuries are still there from the battle with Apocalymon. For some reason I can't cure it . . . although I've been recuperating to regain my powers. I've also been out of practice by being a recluse here, with you as a companion. All this time you have been my eyes and ears for the outside world. What would I do without you, Otamamon?"

Otamamon chuckled. "I swear, Omnimon . . . you're as bad now as you were when you were Agumon and Gabumon."

Omnimon laughed lightly. "Coming from you, I take that as a compliment. But now, my friend, I have a job for you."

The tadpole's interest immediately perked up. "I'm all ears."

"Alright. I need you to help get me back to the surface; I'm not strong enough to do that on my own. After that . . . you've said that the Digidestined girl was abducted on a foreign vessel which had just set its anchor on Database Island, right? I need you to collect her partner digimon and perhaps the crew of the ship if they're willing, and go to IceDevimon's lair to save her. I will go and assist the remaining Digidestined in their battle against Phelesmon."

"You got it," Otamamon said and headed back into the waters. Then his body shone with yellow lights, and he cried out,

"**Otamamon Digivolve to . . . WHAMON!!" **

-

-

Phelesmon was getting more annoyed than ever. Just when he'd thought that he would be able to rid the Digidestined, Ogremon had to show up to intervene. And when he almost beat the annoying ogre, more of his enemies had to step in. His back was still hurt from being unexpectedly blasted by two particularly strong attacks. The pain was piercing to say the least, but as he was stronger, it was bearable. Phelesmon was actually more irritated than hurt as he watched Veedramon and Leomon defending themselves and the already fallen Digidestined.

"No matter how many of you shows up, you can never win against me!" Phelesmon declared. "I, Phelesmon, will destroy each and every one of those who DARE to oppose me, if it's the last thing I ever do!"

"So that's what you're called now, Boogeymon," Veedramon noted, and approached the demon closer. Leomon stayed behind to protect the others.

"I am Phelesmon now; Boogeymon is nothing more than ancient history! And I'm delivering death to all of you pathetic weaklings!"

"Oh yeah? Then big news Phelesmon, we'll fight it to the end if it's the last thing WE ever do!" Veedramon shot back defiantly.

Feeling his anger building up, Phelesmon immediately raised his trident and blasted Veedramon with multiple thunderbolts the same way he did to Ogremon. The dragon fought back by firing back a series of V-Nova Blasts, followed by his V-Arrow Breath. His attacks however only managed to nullify the thunderbolts but weren't able to inflict any bodily harm on the demon who defended himself well. Veedramon was flustered, while Phelesmon snickered in satisfaction.

"It's only a matter of time before you are defeated, Veedramon," Phelesmon said mockingly. "I am stronger than you even when I was Boogeymon. You weren't my match then, and you're certainly NOT a match to me now. Demon's Shout!"

Veedramon summoned all his might and focused it on the attack he was about to launch. "V-Nova Blast!"

An explosion ensued from the collision between the two mighty attacks. Phelesmon didn't even budge as he had used his large wings to protect himself; while Veedramon was forced to take a couple of steps back from the force resulted from the explosion. It was apparently clear now who was the stronger fighter.

"You are foolish to even THINK that you can beat me. Your friends have fallen, and so will you. You can never match the power of an Ultimate digimon!" Phelesmon said strongly. "Why don't you just surrender now and I'll make sure your deletion would be quick and painless."

"Why don't you just shut up?" Veedramon spat back. "I'm not done yet. Hammer Punch!"

Seeing that his ranged attacks weren't effective, Veedramon then decided to use his physical attack instead. Phelesmon used his trident to block Veedramon's punches and merely snickered as he saw the way the dragon fought. Veedramon instigated himself even more by trying to lash out towards the demon by using his tail, but to his surprise, Phelesmon bent down and grabbed hold of it and clutched it hard.

"Your techniques are really getting old," Phelesmon grinned maliciously. "I won't fall for this again. Black Statue!"

Instantly, Veedramon's tail was engulfed with black aura generating out from Phelesmon's claws. To his horror, his tail grew stiff and became darker in color, until it froze brick-hard. Phelesmon then released the dragon's tail and laughed.

"What have you done?" Veedramon demanded, inspecting his frozen tail close.

"Don't you get it?" Phelesmon replied back mockingly. "Black, and statue? Your tail is now as black and hard as a black statue. Get it?"

"You really have a sick sense of humor!" Veedramon growled angrily, and out of fury he lashed his frozen tail towards Phelesmon's legs. Surprised by the stronger force exerted by it, Phelesmon winced and pulled back his claw. Then, Veedramon's tail reverted back to its former state.

"Hah! Bet you didn't expect that!" he said. "Prepare for Round Two, Phelesmon!"

-

-

In the meantime, Leomon approached Ogremon and saw that the ogre was injured.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Bah! Don't offer any of your pity to me!" Ogremon snapped.

Leomon arched both eyes upward. "Stubborn as always, I see. For your information, I'm definitely not having any feeling of sympathy for you. I'm merely wondering what it is in it for you to help these children when they needed. It's so unlike you, and it sounds fishy to me."

Ogremon was about to snap when he flinched slightly upon hearing Phelesmon's screams again. "I have my reasons," he said in a rush. "And that's NONE of your business, Leomon!"

"We're in the same boat, Ogremon," Leomon replied, knowing only too well what the ogre digimon felt. "You can't stand it, can you? You can't live with the feeling of having been controlled by someone else against your will? I knew the three of you from the start, and you three were the most arrogant Rookies around. You're here for a payback, don't you?"

Ogremon shrugged irritably. "Whatever. Don't you?"

"I'm helping the Digidestined," Leomon stated simply. "Any personal vendetta is not a priority for me right now."

"Yeah right," Ogremon replied. "I bet you have the same feeling too. Anyway don't ever forget that I'll still be battling you after this whole fiasco is over!"

"Speak whatever you want, Ogremon," Leomon replied, and unexpectedly he extended a hand towards Ogremon's direction. "But for now I propose a temporary truce. If we're going to battle each other in the future then it will be imperative if we rid Phelesmon first. What do you say?"

Ogremon hesitated for a moment, but then unexpectedly he smirked. "Now you're talking." He accepted Leomon's hand, and for a moment a smile briefly flickered on his mouth before being replaced by the usual scornful expression. Then together they charged towards Phelesmon and aided Veedramon, much to the surprises of the Digidestined and digimon.

"Well, I'll be darned," Max muttered in disbelief. As far as he knew, the two digimon who had formed a temporary alliance in front of his eyes were bitter enemies, yet now they had put their differences aside for a moment in order to achieve one common goal.

Darien and Jon were surprised to see all the help approaching, and Max quickly explained how all of them knew the trouble that was brewing, while carefully leaving out the bits of Kira being kidnapped as not to rouse their worries. Then, all of them watched as the battle commenced.

-

-

In the meantime, Kanto and Wizardmon had already arrived on the Bane Buccaneer. Upon learning that they were the Digidestined and friends of Kira and Renamon, Hookmon immediately allowed them to step foot on his ship. Usually the strawberry-blonde boy would take the time to marvel of being on a pirate ship, but he had another matter in mind.

Hookmon led them to a distraught-looking Renamon, who was being accompanied by Koemon at the upper deck of the ship. Renamon had been blaming herself for not being able to prevent the abduction of her partner, while Koemon had been assuring her that it wasn't her fault. Kanto quickly asked Renamon to tell them the whole story. It took a while for Renamon to regain her composure, but she agreed and begun relating all the events which had happened prior to their arrival. Both boy and digimon listened raptly, and Renamon kept her story short as not to waste time.

". . . And that's the whole story," Renamon finished five minutes later, and sighed dejectedly.

The boy frowned. "What could they possibly want with Kira?"

"The possibilities are endless," Koemon answered with a sigh. "I heard that they want to make Kira their queen."

"Huh? Their queen?" Kanto repeated, dumbfounded. "But why? What on earth for?"

Koemon shrugged, while Renamon cast a look towards the sea. Neither could provide the answer, but then the captain of the ship cleared his throat to attract the attention.

"I can tell you why," Hookmon offered gloomily. Looking around at the other Koemon crew that was busy repairing the vessel from the damages caused by the Scubamon invasion earlier, he said, "Maybe it is better for all of you to come over to my private cabin. I do not wish for the other crew to overhear what I'm about to tell you." The captain led Kanto, Wizardmon, Renamon and Koemon into his chamber, and motioned them to sit at the couches. Kanto, Wizardmon and Koemon obliged the offer, but Renamon chose to stand at the corner of the room.

"No, thank you," she said firmly. Fixing her blue irises towards Hookmon sternly, she leaned against the wall. "Start talking. Start from the beginning, please . . . are you or are you not Dragomon's servant?"

Kanto and Wizardmon waited for the answer, and noticed that Koemon was fidgeting slightly.

Hookmon took a deep breath said, "I admit, I am working for Dragomon, the underwater demon lord. He is one of the Legion of Darkness as well. . ."

"So that makes you one of the Legions as well!" Kanto immediately accused, sounding scandalized. He was about to stand up from his seat when Wizardmon placed a hand on his shoulder, calmly beckoning his partner to sit back down.

"Maybe it'll be better if we hear the whole story first, Kanto," the young wizard said resolutely.

Kanto flushed slightly, but agreed begrudgingly to his partner's suggestions.

"Thank you, and no, I'm not a part of the Legion of Darkness. I only work for Dragomon for the money; I'm not and will never be his minion. I am and will always be a free mon," Hookmon answered calmly. "Anyway that's not what I want to tell you. I would really appreciate it if you will not interrupt me again, that way I can relate the story to you faster. Just hear me out."

Kanto nodded, and Hookmon resumed his tale.

"Dragomon used to have a fleet of powerful marine digimon at his disposal. His forces were strong, and he was feared by many. But Dragomon wasn't satisfied; and one day he decided to make them stronger by experimenting them with various chemicals and corrupted data. The idea was to make them digivolve into Ultimate level, as his army was then at Champion level only.

"At that time, his right-hand mon, an IceDevimon, strongly advised Dragomon against the idea. IceDevimon believed that data-loading was still the much preferred choice. However Dragomon won't listen as he was impatient. Data-loading was by far the most effective technique to increase the powers of digimon, but it was banned by the digi-gods. It was the fastest way for a digimon to gain power to digivolve, but even so, it could take a long time depending on the digimon, and Dragomon wasn't the most patient of all. Needless to say, he proceeded with the experiment anyway. Angered by this action, IceDevimon alone rebelled against Dragomon and fled. The other minions simply were eager to get stronger, perhaps out of loyalty or greed. The experimentation was a success at first; all the digimon he had placed under the test had successfully advanced into the Ultimate level Scubamon, which were a variation from the Divermon species.

"However, Dragomon didn't realize that his experimentations had grave consequences and side-effects as well. The Scubamon resulted from the test had somehow undergone a mutation . . . into creatures that could not even be classified as digimon. The mutated Scubamon had no attack techniques whatsoever, making them weaker although they still retained their physical prowess. Physically they are strong, but that's about it. Needless to say, they were infuriated as the process was unfortunately irreversible.

"IceDevimon saw his chances to gain support and urged them to launch a full-scale mutiny against Dragomon, which they did. A huge battle ensued between those who sided with IceDevimon and those who were still loyal to Dragomon; and in the end Dragomon won and IceDevimon was forced to flee once more with the mutated Scubamon. That event happened nearly a decade ago.

"While Dragomon had stopped working on the experiments he still seeks of a way to make his army stronger. In the meantime IceDevimon also began recruiting digimon into his army, and many digimon believed that he had the right idea. I could say that the digimon who joined IceDevimon simply because IceDevimon wasn't a part of the Legion of Darkness . . . but believe me when I say that he's no angel either.

"That ice devil somehow came up with a _sick_ theory to increase the strength of his army. As the mutated Scubamon were no longer digimon, IceDevimon assumed that they could no longer be of service to him. However, he had a suspicion that they still had their dormant Ultimate powers somewhere within them . . . and if he could tap in the power, he would be able to form an army even more powerful than Dragomon could ever hope to be. He came up with the theory of _procreation_, believing that should the mutants be allowed of having children, then those offspring of theirs will form a powerful clan."

A loud gasp came from Renamon, while Wizardmon and Koemon nearly choked upon hearing the news.

"It's not possible!" Wizardmon responded, both his green eyes flashed with disbelief.

"He WOULDN'T!" Renamon bellowed angrily, and stomped her feet on the floor. "I will not allow it!"

However Kanto merely looked baffled. "Can anyone tell me what exactly is procreation?" he asked innocently, and rubbed his scruffy orange hair.

The digimon all looked among themselves; all contemplated whether they should clarify it to Kanto or came up with a lighter explanation.

"Just tell him the truth," Renamon huffed irritably, and crossed her arms against her chest. "I do not see why we should hesitate to do so."

"Renamon . . . he's too YOUNG," Wizardmon protested. "I don't think he could comprehend with it just yet. It's not yet time . . ."

Both Hookmon and Koemon nodded in agreement.

"I am NOT too young," Kanto complaint loudly. "I'm old enough to know whatever there is to know about this . . . procreation, whatever that means."

"Oh, _really_! All of you are so impossible! If no one has the courage to tell the boy, then I will do so!" Renamon said exasperatedly. "Well, Kanto . . . what Hookmon is trying to say is that . . . hmm, how can I put this into something that you can understand? Hmm. . . . Well . . . I believe what Hookmon said just now meant that those mutants wanted Kira to mother their children."

Kanto's violet eyes bulged instantly upon hearing Renamon's hasty explanation as he tried to comprehend with the new revelation. The digimon waited nervously to see how he would response.

"EWWW! Don't tell me . . . that they kidnapped Kira for THAT reason? That's so . . . so . . . YUCK! And Kira's so . . . so . . . YOUNG!"

"Precisely," Hookmon said grimly. "That's why it's sick . . . even Dragomon's experiments suddenly sound way better. Not that I agreed with it, just so you know . . . I think of both ways as extremely unethical."

"We've got to save her!" Kanto exclaimed.

Renamon nodded. "One way or another I must save my partner. I failed to protect her during the attacks; I will do anything I can to save her from this IceDevimon and those creatures."

"But how? I don't know of any way for us to go under the sea . . . the Bane Buccaneer simply doesn't have the ability," Hookmon countered weakly. "As much as I want to save her, I really don't have a clue on how we're going to do that."

"YOU?" Renamon said incredulously. "What have you got to do with everything? What has _Dragomon_ got to say in all this?"

Hookmon could feel his temper rising upon Renamon's remark, but kept it well-hidden. "I'm responsible for everything that happened on my ship. Especially since you and Miss Kira are my guests on the Bane Buccaneer and Miss Kira had been kidnapped under my nose. I feel guilty as well as you do, so it'll only be fitting if I assisted in the rescue as well. Besides, those Scubamon and their master don't know with who they are messing with. They have trespassed the ship, and committed a crime on here . . . I will have to punish them for that, too." Then Hookmon paused momentarily as he recalled the conversation he had with Kira before the abduction had taken place.

"_As long as the Legion of Darkness is here in this world, nobody is truly free, including you."_

"And Dragomon will have no say in what I want to do. I'm not his servant or lackey," Hookmon finally finished boldly.

Renamon merely snorted slightly but chose not to reply, while Wizardmon and Kanto nodded.

"Well . . . the more the merrier, I guess," Kanto said.

"We will need all the help we can get to save Kira," Wizardmon agreed.

"Wizardmon, can't you use your staff to at least see how she is now?" Kanto asked.

Wizardmon agreed to the suggestion and pointed his staff to the window. "Magical Game," he muttered softly and the sun carvings on it glowed with soft blue lights. The round wooden sun then changed into the scenery of the sea outside the ship, clearly depicting the waters which shone under the moonlight. However a minute passed, and the staff still was showing the same thing.

"I'm sorry, Kanto," he said apologetically. "Apparently that's as far as I can go for now. I still haven't mastered the skill of gaining sight beyond sight yet."

Kanto looked puzzled slightly. "Just how many abilities do you have, Wizardmon?"

Wizardmon grinned impishly. "I'm a wizard digimon; as far as I heard a wizard-type can always improve his skills, unlike any other digimon."

"What do we do now?" Renamon asked impatiently, slightly annoyed of the change of topic and deliberately brought Kanto and Wizardmon back to the main question. "We cannot just sit here and do nothing."

"Yeah," Kanto seconded.

"Well," Koemon said suddenly. "Does anyone know how we can go down there?"

All four of them became silent, thinking upon the perfect way to save Kira. Suddenly a loud rumbling sound was heard from outside the window, followed by a huge splash of water. The vessel shook slightly upon impact with the waters, and a loud voice boomed cheerfully towards them.

"Ahoy there!"

All of them made their way straight towards the upper deck, and saw all the Koemon crew became stiff with what seemed like fear. One of them pointed with a trembling finger towards a direction, and by following it, they immediately saw the reason. In front of them was an extremely massive blue whale digimon, with a brown extra covering surrounding his head region. The Bane Buccaneer was a large ship, but the tip of its highest mast reached only the whale's eye level.

"Don't tell me that it's Monstro," Kanto said nervously.

"Who's Monstro? That ain't me, although you can say I am pretty big," the whale replied kindly. "You can call me Whamon, and I'm the answer to all of your questions!"

"I beg your pardon?" Hookmon said suspiciously. "Just where do you come from, and what exactly do you mean by being the answer to all of your questions?"

"It sounds fishy to me," Kanto muttered. "Err . . . no pun intended, of course."

The whale digimon, Whamon, merely winked. "Oh, I'm just a good Samaritan wanting to help. Besides this is a DIGIDESTINED business we're talking about! I know that she is kidnapped by a bunch of freaks just now, and I know how to get to where she's been taken. I can take you guys there!"

-

-

With Leomon and Ogremon teaming up with Veedramon, Phelesmon found himself being vulnerable to attacks from any sides. While he had a relatively easy time dodging and evading all of their attacks, and those which hit him had only caused him minor injuries, Phelesmon knew that if the battle went on at this kind of rate, sooner or later he would be defeated. He then immediately fired a few thunderbolts from his trident, throwing Leomon and Ogremon out of the way which left him an opening to attack Veedramon.

"Black Statue!" he roared, and slashed his free claw towards Veedramon's direction. Waves of dark energy shot out from his claw, but Veedramon countered it quickly with his V-Arrow Breath. However instead of canceling out each other, the dark energy waves engulfed the V-Arrow Breath and froze it. The frozen, solid form of Veedramon's attack then crashed onto the ground into tiny pieces.

"Oh great! I sure am glad that didn't happen to my tail," Veedramon muttered, proceeding with another V-Arrow Breath.

"How long must we keep on like this?" Phelesmon said, rather insultingly as he froze Veedramon's attack again.

At the same time, both Leomon and Ogremon struggled to get on their feet again. Both were hurt, but still full with determination. Ogremon then jumped back to his feet again, and laughed slightly.

"Leomon, don't be such a weakling. Get on your feet, NOW!"

Scowling slightly, the lion-man immediately got up and at the same time, came up with a plan. "Let's attack Phelesmon together."

"Ooh, lets!"

Leomon then jumped in and fired his Fist of the Beast King, followed by Ogremon who attacked with his Pummel Whack. Their combined efforts proved to be rather deadly even for Phelesmon, as they merged into a white version of Leomon's usual golden attack. Veedramon quickly joined in with his V-Arrow Breath, adding into the joint attack. The result was a powerful ray of blue-white energy beam with the shape of an arrow which contained the combined powers of Veedramon, Leomon and Ogremon. It hit Phelesmon directly on the torso, and sent him crashing onto the ground.

"That's gotta hurt!" Veedramon noted with satisfaction.

Trails of red data-blood trickled from Phelesmon's wounded body as the result of being blasted with the joint attack. As he about to get up, his body began to glow bright red.

"We did it!" Ogremon said, and saw something happening with Phelesmon. "Hey, look!"

Following Ogremon's gaze, they saw that Phelesmon's body shrunk in size until he was only about Leomon's height. Flustered, the demon got up and stared daggers into his three opponents with fury. He felt angry and humiliated of being defeated by three Champions, while he was a level higher.

"You're going to regret that!" Phelesmon threatened.

Ogremon sneered. "Ooh, I'm so scared!"

"This isn't over yet," Phelesmon said menacingly. "No, this is just . . . the BEGINNING!"

He raised his trident up towards the sky and summoned streaks of lightning from the looming dark clouds that were hovering over Shadow Parish. Multiple lightning struck the land where they were standing at currently, and some of them shot towards the abandoned huts. They instantly were caught on fire. Phelesmon then channeled more power and let out an amplified version of his Demon's Shout. It was a repulsively deafening sound to hear and somehow had triggered an earthquake as the grounds shook slightly before becoming more and more violent.

"This earthquake . . ." Leomon said, his voice trailing off as he came into realization.

"It's the same earthquake we had this morning!" Jon finished, while trying his best to maintain his balance. No such luck, as he fell back on the ground on his hind. Kotemon quickly helped him to stand up again, and Bearmon lent a hand to assist Darien and Max.

"You? You're the one responsible for this?" Veedramon demanded.

Phelesmon didn't reply; he was too absorbed with what he was doing. The grounds then shook even more violently, the sky darkened to a shade of black with more thick clouds forming. Thunders echoed all over the island, and strong winds started blowing out from the clouds. The suddenness of all the events baffled the Digidestined and digimon present.

"Prepare yourselves. . ." Phelesmon finally said, loudly. ". . . for the countdown to destruction!"

Phelesmon then spread his wings wide and took off the air without any further warning, leaving all the digimon and the Digidestined speechless. All of them watched as Phelesmon sped straight towards the peak of Zero Mountain, where he used to reign before being toppled by the Digidestined, with the clouds he had generated tailed behind him. Moments later, the demonic digimon was merely like a speck of red against the black sky.

-

-

Kira couldn't believe that she had actually fallen asleep while pretending to be unconscious. The journey was long, and somehow she was emotionally exhausted. She remembered feeling bored and had decided to let her guard down. It was pretty much the same thing if she remained awake, only that now by sleeping through the journey she had missed out important details. Like for one, where she was at right now?

Everything appeared to be blur and hazy to her. Kira wasn't able to recollect anything after she had dozed off, and right then something about her clothes felt different to her. She realized that she was lying on her back on top of a thin platform, where she could fall over if she had decided to roll over. Gathering every amount of courage she had, Kira fluttered her eyes open. What she saw amazed her.

Getting up, Kira realized that she was inside a place which was made purely of ice. It looked like she was inside a dome or some sort, judging by the shape of the chamber she was in. She felt like being inside a very large igloo, although she hadn't been in one before. Everything about the place; the walls, floors, ceilings, even the platform she was currently at was made of ice. Like an igloo, the dome narrowed at one end, forming a particularly long walkway leading to a crystal door.

The place was beautiful, yet gloomy at the same time, as there was no other decoration present except for the white ice. Strangely though, Kira couldn't even feel the slightest tinge of cold. Then something else clicked in her brain – she could breath! Last time she checked, she was underwater and had assumed that the place she was being taken to was underwater as well. She could easily be dead, from drowning or the intensely high pressure underwater, but here she was, alive and breathing. It was unnerving, but Kira couldn't help but to feel curious by the whole situation. The fear was there, but not so much when she noticed that she wasn't harmed by her kidnappers in any way. She began looking around . . .

. . . And saw something that immediately grabbed her attention – her reflection against the ice crystalline walls, ceilings and floors. It was completely different from what she used to see when looking into her mirror, and it dazed her greatly. So shocked she was, she couldn't stop herself from screaming.

"AAAHHHH!!"

Gone were her pink dress, hat, and shoes . . . everything! Instead, she was wearing a breathtaking silvery white gown which covered every part of her body except her head, neck and palms. The gown was like those she saw inside the fairytale cartoons back home – made of the finest silk and satin, flowing, glittering, and exceptionally stunning. Her sandy light brown hair was no longer tied in pigtails, but was combed down straight down half her back. A shimmering crystal tiara adorned her head, which made her look like a princess from the folklore despite lacking the jewelries. Kira wondered why she hadn't noticed that as soon as she had awoken, before remembering that she was too dazed by the place she was in as well just before she saw her reflection.

"Who did this . . ." she finally managed to say as she inspected herself in front of the walls. To ease herself, Kira tried taking a few deep breaths. Then, she began looking closer at the wall and forced a smile out. The reflection was smiling back at her, and soon the smile broke into a grin. She finally was able to appreciate the gown and the makeup – a light blue lipstick was painted on her lips, and the same shade was also used as her eye shadows. Looking around, she saw a long crystal staff with a large diamond-shaped crystal attached on one of its end. Kira picked up the staff and looked at her reflection again.

"What's this for? Is this for me too?" Kira wondered, and held the staff proudly. Looking back at her reflection, she winced.

"I think I look like an Ice Queen," Kira said with a sigh. She wondered who could have done this to her . . . Someone had definitely went all the way to make her feel special, and Kira couldn't help but to appreciate it, momentarily forgotten that she was kidnapped. But then she remembered that she wasn't exactly safe yet, and thought, "What's going on here?"

Sounds of footsteps approaching had attracted Kira's attention. She saw the door at the end of the chamber swung open, and in came . . .

"Oh no . . ." Kira slapped her forehead lightly. "Not them."

. . . her three abductors, the Scubamon.

"Our queen has awoken!" one Scubamon said excitedly.

"Welcome to our sanctuary, Your Highness," the second one followed, sounding equally happy.

"We heard you screaming just now, is everything alright?" the first Scubamon said, sounding genuinely worried.

Kira didn't reply as the three Scubamon approached her, as she was still wary of them. However the two Scubamon who had greeted her earlier didn't look like they meant any harm. In fact, they seemed pleased (in a pleasant way) to see her, which baffled her even more. But then, she saw the look of the third Scubamon, and instantly saw that he wasn't as happy as his other two friends. Instead, he was scowling.

"My queen, forgive their behavior," he said formally, his scowl disappeared instantly as bowed. Kira instantly relaxed, but maintained her silence. Apparently this didn't bother the Scubamon any bit.

"You have been chosen to become our queen to help us fight our former evil master," the third Scubamon continued, after hearing no reply from his 'queen'. "Your former life is no more to you. The spell I have placed on you under Master IceDevimon's command will make you forget of your past lives. Your life, and destiny, is to become our queen and mother to our future warriors."

"_Is he for real?" _Kira thought incredulously. "_EWWWW! I DON'T WANT TO MARRY A FREAK LIKE HIM!"_

"Your highness, are you alright?" the first Scubamon asked.

"_I have to buy the others time to come here," _Kira thought silently. A faint smile crept on her face. "_I'll play along. So they want a queen now, do they? I'll give them a queen. Hopefully I can pull it off well."_

Kira's eyes suddenly bulged wide and her face contorted slightly as she approached the three Scubamon.

"QUEENIE?!" She screeched loudly, and fiercely, causing two of the Scubamon to flinch. "AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY BECOMING A MOTHER? I AM TOO YOUNG TO BE ONE, SO BEAT IT!!"

The third Scubamon however seemed to be pleased with her behavior. "Of course, you are still too young now, but we are willing to wait until you are older. While waiting for that time, you will be under my tutelage and will be groomed to become our ruler aside Master IceDevimon. Now kneel to me as your teacher!" he said with a note of triumph in his voice.

Kira raised an eyebrow and showed her displeasure. "FORGET IT! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE KNEELING . . . TO MEEEE!!" She said dramatically, when a sudden crazy impulse struck her. Without even thinking of any consequences of her idea, she used her staff to hit the third Scubamon's head hard. To her surprise, it caused the third Scubamon to stumble down. "HAH! Serve you right, for being rude to the QUEEEENNN!"

"Owww . . ." the third Scubamon complained, as he rubbed his head. "Apparently my spell work too well . . ."

"AND AS FOR YOU TWO . . ." Kira continued her pretense, and approached the other two Scubamon, sticking her face close to them. "HMMMPPH!" She merely grunted before turning around again.

"_Now for a dose of throwing fit," _she thought.

"THIS IS NOT A REAL GOLD!" She shouted, and pointed at her tiara. "I, AS A QUEEN, DESERVE BETTER! NO, I DON'T WANT A TIARA, I WANT A CROWN! MAKE IT A GOLD ONE!"

"WHY IN THE WORLD DON'T I HAVE ANY JEWELLERY? NECKLACE, BRACELETS, RINGS . . . BRING ME ALL OF THEM!"

"THIS GOWN IS SOOOO YESTERDAY! I DON'T LIKE IT! BRING ME A YELLOW, BLUE OR A PINK ONE IMMEDIATELY!"

"CHANGE THE DECORATION IN THIS ROOM! IT'S SO PLAIN! IN FACT, IT'S GOT NOTHING! ALL WHITE . . . IT IS SOOO, uhh . . . NOT ME!"

"WHERE IS MY THRONE? ALL QUEENS I KNOW HAVE ONE!"

"I WANT TEN SERVANTS WHO WILL TEND TO MY EVERY NEED TWENTY-FOUR-SEVEN!"

The three Scubamon gaped as Kira droned off her wish-list, while shaking their head. The third Scubamon, whom she had hit with her staff, glowered at her with annoyance. Surprisingly, the other two Scubamon looked as if they were trying to take a mental note of her demands. It surprised her, and forced her to stop by the time she had reached her thirtieth demand.

"NOW GET OUT OF HERE! LEAVE ME ALONE IN PEACE!"

The Scubamon quickly bowed to her and scurried off. After seeing them disappear, Kira took a deep breath and composed herself. Her throat felt sore and dry after all the shrieking; she would have to call back one of them to bring her a drink.

"_Now that is something I thought only worked inside cartoons or movies. They couldn't fall for that for long... could they?"_

All of a sudden, a gust of whirlwind came out of nowhere, sending out cold breezes around the chamber. Kira clasped both hands around her body tight, and shivered slightly. To her surprise, the whirlwind began to take form . . . of a humanoid figure which stood almost seven or eight feet tall. It was an all-white creature, from the leather clothes and the mask it was wearing and its two large tattered wings. Clearly masculine judging mainly from appearance, what troubled Kira the most was the two horns on his head, his long massive claws and the sneer he had on his face. This being in front of her had the appearance of a fallen angel. With this in mind, Kira gasped in horror and trembled in fear. Her knees gave in quickly and she stumbled on the floor.

"Well, well, well, my dear . . . that was certainly a world-class façade you have put on just now," the white fallen angel said silkily. "You can fool those idiots with it but you certainly can't fool me. I am IceDevimon, the lord of the Chill Cavern. Don't worry, I won't and have no intention to hurt you."

"What . . . do you . . . want with me?" Kira managed to choke out.

"Why, aren't you informed?" IceDevimon replied, sneering. "Those Scubamon didn't mention about making you their queen, did they?"

Kira gulped, desperately trying to calm herself. She nodded twice, and thought desperately as IceDevimon approached her – with both claws outstretched towards her direction. "_This isn't going exactly as I planned. Renamon, Darien . . . Are you on your way now? Please hurry up."_ Then, her vision was blinded by a red flash, and she saw nothing else but black as her head thudded softly against the floor.

-

-

The three Scubamon had been watching the whole event happening between Kira and IceDevimon from the door leading to the chamber where Kira was held, and sighed. The Scubamon contemplated of what would happen with their new Queen, and the third Scubamon quickly ushered his two friends away, saying that it was none of their business. IceDevimon would take care of everything from then onwards, he assured.

As they walked away from the door and down the crystalline walkway, another Scubamon appeared from the hidden corner, which was blocked out of sight by a slightly protruded stalagmite that grew along the walls. He seemed to be there for quite some time now, and judging by his eyes it was evident that he was up to something.

Especially when those irises were glowing with eerie red lights.

-

-

Unbeknownst to either Kira or IceDevimon, someone else was watching the whole event happening at the Chill Cavern, with aid of a well-placed spy and the power of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes.

A particularly hunched, purple monstrous figure resembling a gigantic octopus was observing a glowing orb which hovered in front of him inside a place surrounded solely by darkness. The only source of light came from the orb, and it was scarce against the blackness of the area the monster was in.

He let out an amused sound upon observing Kira's faked outbursts towards the three Scubamon. "They are never bright . . . those Scubamon."

Upon closer observation, the said creature possessed eight tentacles of an octopus as each of its four limbs all tied together with a black or gold rings to form one. Three yellow curved horns jutted out from each of his shoulder. His face could only be described as extremely grotesque; slimy, jaw wide-opened with a set of sharp yellow fangs. This monstrosity also bore a pair of red eyes under an extremely bulbous, well-pronounced forehead which was decorated with weird curved red markings on it. Large, dark blue, beaded necklace adorned greasy body. And finally, a pair of orange and purple leathery wings jutted out from his back. This hideous creature was known as Dragomon.

Dragomon then growled as he saw IceDevimon appearing out from the whirlwind. "Traitor," he hissed softly, his tone sounded malice out of hate for IceDevimon.

"So, that lowly IceDevimon thinks that by gaining the Digidestined girl, he would have an advantage upon me," he growled, feeling infuriated. He twiddled with his blue trident aimlessly with his right hand. "Not if I can help it. That traitor must be taught a lesson. He has been a thorn on my side for too long; perhaps this is the right moment to rid of him. Yes, yes . . . I will have my revenge. All those assaults against me, I will make him pay. Him and those Scubamon servants of his. Yes, it is time . . . after all they do say that revenge is a dish best served _cold._"

With that, the underwater demon lord let out an echoing, cruel, evil yet hollow laughter. Then, by musing alone on what IceDevimon was planning to do with the girl, Dragomon realized something.

"On the other hand, this might be beneficial for me. Perhaps his idea would be the solution for my failed experiments after all."

Suddenly, a new feeling engulfed Dragomon. It was familiar and different at the same time. Dragomon vaguely recognized it being Boogeymon's energy patterns, but he wasn't so sure. He then raised a tentacle, as if raising a finger, and flicked it towards the glowing orb.

The scene immediately changed, showing Boogeymon . . . or rather, Phelesmon, standing on the peak of Zero Mountain.

"Finally brother, you have digivolved!" Dragomon mused aloud, alone. There was a sound of pride in his foreboding voice. "Let us hope that your power alone will be enough to rid the four remaining Digidestined . . . leaving the girl to me."

-

-

Darkness had fallen over Database Island. And it all happened one day after the Digidestined had presumably defeated Boogeymon. The demon was now back, with a new digivolution and a new power, and he wanted vengeance for those who had toppled him earlier. Five particular adolescents with five partner digimon . . . they were the main target, but for now Phelesmon couldn't much care less. He wanted to make sure first that there wasn't any way that the Digidestined could escape him. And that was about to be accomplished very, very soon . . .

"_Clouds of crimson and obsidian shall be their mark of doom,_

Phelesmon raised his staff on the air, and generated red and black smokes which at first hovered above him and the Zero Mountain.

"_With the power of the Legion of Darkness in its fullest bloom,_

The clouds then multiplied and began to spread towards the region nearest the highest peak of the island.

"_Now go with the curse, turn this land into burning hell, _

"_Around Database Island, CAST MY SPELL!"_

The clouds above Phelesmon then began to stretch beyond the regions of Zero Mountain, towards all sides of the island in a matter of seconds. Then lightning struck all over the land, zapping trees, houses and hills, burning them completely. The fire began to spread in an alarming rate, and the winds that just begun to erupt from the clouds only served to increase the fire's spreading speed. Soon, forest after forest caught fire causing all the inhabitants to flee their sanctuary. It was chaos! Cries, wails and shouts were heard all around as some digimon were unfortunate enough to be caught on the raging flames. Phelesmon observed this with glee as he spread his arms wide. Millions, even billions, of data particles coming from the deceased digimon were absorbed into his body, increasing his own powers.

"Yes," Phelesmon said, feeling extremely satisfied as he devoured on more data. He let out a loud echoing laughter that was heard all over the island, spreading fear to all digimon around. He took pleasure upon hearing more despairing cries as some digimon lost their close ones, some were caught by the fire and the fallen trees. There were also a few that were unlucky to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. They were caught up by stampedes of digimon trying to save themselves, and in the process they were stepped on constantly. It was too much for young digimon to handle, so they were quickly deleted without the stampeding digimon even being aware of it.

To add on the turmoil, Phelesmon then summoned back the earthquakes to take place all over the island. This time around, the quakes were severe and resulted in landslides and avalanches on the hillside regions. The formerly solid grounds of the lower regions of the island cracked open wide, forming deep chasms and more unfortunate digimon had fallen into them and to their doom. Then, the sea water began to flow into the chasms to the horror of the digimon who were lucky enough to still survive. At this rate, soon the island would be flooded and inevitably sink under the sea.

"Perfect," Phelesmon said, clasping both hands together and grinned evilly. "It has finally begun!"

-

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

This is yet another one of those long confusing chapters I have ever written, yet also being one of those which provide some insight of future things to come. I think I'd like to make every chapter longer and more detailed, but whether this is a good idea or not, I'm open to suggestions from you readers.

To **Quinton Notwen** and **Hahn**, thanks for reviewing. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

P/S : I haven't been able to include the next character showcase in this chapter, it will be postponed to next chapter.


	15. The Return of Omnimon

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 15 – Exodus, Part I_**

_**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

-

-

On Primary Village, Tokomon alone was having a hard time maintaining order all over the village. The younglings were all crying at the top of their lungs, out of fear for the peculiar phenomena happening over the island. Leomon's protégé gasped as the earth shook violently, sending the large stacked toy blocks that made up the walls of the village tumbling down, and nearly crashed onto the cradles holding the babies. It was fortunate for the babies, as some of the In-Trainings had been around, and by their combined effort they managed to release bubble-blows strong enough to divert one stray block away.

"Good thinking, guys!" Tokomon exclaimed gratefully.

The in-trainings gathered around Tokomon closely. Tokomon remembered growing up with the three in-trainings, although he had matured first. One of them was a small green digimon with two leaves grown on its forehead. This digimon was called Tanemon.

"It's not over yet, Tokomon," Tanemon said gravely.

"Yeah, at this rate Primary Village will be gone by daybreak!" a smaller green jelly-like digimon called Gummymon added.

Tokomon shook his head sadly. "I really wish Leomon to be here. He'd know what to do."

"If there's one thing we should do is to evacuate the babies from this village," a Nyaromon said desperately. She was in some way similar to a Koromon, except with light green body and cat-like features.

"But how are we going to do that?" Tokomon asked. "We're going to need larger, airborne digimon to do that."

Suddenly, his body began to glow yellow. Tokomon's body grew slightly in size, and was covered with red fur. He became stouter, and purple stripes adorned his red haired body.

"**Tokomon, Digivolve to . . . Elecmon!"**

Tanemon, Gummymon and Nyaromon were impressed with Tokomon's sudden digivolution; he becoming an Elecmon meant that he was officially the caretaker of the Primary Village.

"Make that, the official caretaker of the nearly-destroyed Primary Village," Gummymon cracked.

"Now's not the time, Gummymon," Nyaromon groaned, and lashed Gummymon squarely on the face with her tail.

"Oow . . ." Gummymon whimpered; a faint red mark appeared across his small face.

Elecmon shook his head slightly and inspected his features. "Even as Elecmon, how are we going to evacuate the younglings?"

"Let's try our best," Tanemon said encouragingly, and scooted over a cradle. Inside, two fresh digimon were wailing at the top of their lungs. She rocked the cradle with her tiny legs, but the babies would not stop crying.

"In times like this, who needs rocking when what they really need is some saving?" Gummymon muttered.

Elecmon counted all the cradles around the village. There were nearly fifteen of them, and inside each cradle were two babies. Around the village there were the Digi-eggs that had not been hatched yet.

"Let's save the Digi-eggs first," he suggested to his friends.

"There are like, almost a hundred of them, Elecmon! And all of them are scattered all over the village!" Gummymon exclaimed.

"I hate to agree with Mr. Un-Optimistic here, but he's right. Four of us can't save all the Digi-eggs," Tanemon said grimly.

"It's better for us to focus on the babies first," Nyaromon said.

Deep chasms began to appear from the cracks caused by the rumblings of the earth. Elecmon paled upon knowing that his friends were indeed right. The four of them watched in despair as some of the Digi-eggs were swallowed by the chasms. They nearly cried; thinking of the unfortunate lives that hadn't had the chance to hatch.

"You're right," Elecmon agreed, wiping tears from his eyes. "The babies will be saved first. By the way, where are all the other in-trainings?"

"They have evacuated when the earthquake have just started," Tanemon replied quietly. "I don't think they have made it anywhere, with the chasms appearing all over the island."

Lightning struck some of the toy blocks that still were in stacked position, pushing them out of formation and towards the babies. Elecmon and the in-trainings paled upon the sight, but Elecmon, with his caretaker instinct, leapt forward to intercept the toy blocks.

"Sparkling Thunder!" he cried, sending a thunderbolt from his tail towards the toy blocks, and pushed them away from harming the babies.

Gummymon whistled in awe, while Tanemon and Nyaromon cheered for Elecmon. However their joy was cut short when another lightning struck the grounds, and widened the chasms. The rumblings intensified and more Digi-eggs fell into the chasms.

Suddenly from the sky, a humanoid figure appeared. Adorning white armor, with tattered red cape – this digimon still had the majestic aura surrounding it, despite the fact that it had definitely seen better days. The armor bore scorch marks, dirt, and was broken in some parts. The hands were perhaps the strangest sight to behold; one of them was shaped like cannon, while the other was grafted like a sword.

"Elecmon!" the digimon boomed, in a manner that of acknowledgement.

Elecmon was stunned to see the digimon. "Who's that?" he wondered.

"What, you don't know him? He had just called your name!" Gummymon demanded.

"I don't have any idea on who he is," Elecmon admitted, as the digimon approached him. The rodent gave the armored digimon a quizzical look.

"Don't you recognize me, Elecmon?" the digimon asked, seeing Elecmon's expression. "I'm Omnimon."

"I'm sorry; you must have mistaken me from the previous Elecmon. He is Leomon now," Elecmon said politely.

"Oh!" the noble digimon, who had introduced himself as Omnimon, said. "A new one. I've definitely been out from here for too long."

Elecmon and the in-trainings looked at Omnimon curiously. "What brings you here, Omnimon?" Elecmon asked.

"I am here to lend my assistance in helping the Digidestined to finish the evil that has been lurking on this island," Omnimon answered, and scanned his surrounding. "I've never thought that the situation on Database Island could become this bad . . ."

"The Digidestined have left the village earlier," Elecmon informed. "They've gone to fight Boogeymon. Something must have happened to them – the island is now breaking apart."

"We really could use any help we can get now; we're currently trying to figure out a way to evacuate the young ones out of here," Nyaromon said.

"Can you help us, Omnimon?" Tanemon asked earnestly.

"I would love to help you, but given my disadvantages . . ." Omnimon raised both hands, revealing his sword and cannon. "I doubt that I'd be much help to you guys. I might be a warrior, but I'm perhaps the clumsiest caretaker you could ever find. I'd probably drop everything that I wanted to hold onto."

"That's too bad," Gummymon muttered. "We really need somebody that can fly to transport us and the babies away."

Omnimon nodded. "In that case, I have an idea. Tell me, are all of you, with the exception of Elecmon, are in-training digimon?"

"That's us," Tanemon said. "Why?"

"Your friend here has stated that you need an airborne digimon to evacuate the babies out from here, right?" Omnimon inquired, while gesturing towards Gummymon. "In my opinion, rather than waiting for any other flying digimon to come around, why don't all of you digivolve to form one?"

"I beg your pardon?" Nyaromon asked, confused. "All of us? Digivolving into one?"

"Is that even possible?" Elecmon wondered.

"With a little power boost from me, the three in-trainings can merge momentarily into one Champion digimon, hopefully into an airborne one. The process is called DNA Digivolving, which is how I myself am formed. Don't ask; it's a long story. What do you say?"

"I say let's go for it," Gummymon said. "I'm all ups to save the babies."

"Yeah, count me in," Tanemon joined in.

Nyaromon smiled slightly. "I'm not gonna be left out on this. Let's do it."

"Alright," Omnimon said, wincing slightly as more lightning struck the colorful grounds of the village. "We have no time to lose. All three of you, step up and form one straight line." The in-trainings obeyed, and Elecmon watched in anticipation as Omnimon's body began to glow with bright white light. Two beams of white light shot out from Omnimon's eyes and engulfed the three young digimon.

Tanemon, Gummymon and Nyaromon then transformed into three motes of shining white light, and shot up onto the air. They coalesced with each other and a bright flash erupted in the air, deflecting all the lightning away. When the light had dissipated, the three digimon were no longer in sight.

Instead, there was a fearsome dragon-like digimon, with blue scales and a pair of massive red wings. Orange feathers grew out from the end of its tail, and around its head forming a mane. Its face was covered with a two-horned ivory skull-mask, except for the jaws which revealed a set of sharp fangs.

"Airdramon; champion level phantom dragon digimon of vaccine type. Despite its rough temperament this digimon is actually very intelligent. Airdramon rules the sky with its Spinning Needle and God Typhoon attacks," said Omnimon, while nodding his head in satisfaction. "Yes, I believe we have come up with the right solution. An airborne digimon . . . no one's better than Airdramon."

"Remarkable . . ." Elecmon said in awe, as Airdramon hovered on the sky. Even the babies had stopped crying after seeing a massive dragon digimon hovering over them.

"Elecmon," said Airdramon, in a deep, feminine voice, marking it as a female. She lowered down her body on the ground. "Place the babies on my back."

Elecmon quickly collected the babies one by one and placed them gently on Airdramon's scaly back. There were thirty baby digimon sitting stiffly there after the rookie digimon had done with the collecting.

"I'm afraid that the babies would fall," Elecmon said, his eyes scrutinizing the babies.

"Don't worry, Elecmon," said Airdramon assuringly. "They'll be safe. You, quickly now, get on my head."

Elecmon obliged, and Airdramon carefully took off from the ground.

"This is where I leave you, Elecmon, Airdramon," Omnimon said, and pointed towards a direction with his sword-hand. "This island is breaking apart. Head straight up north in this direction, and within a day's journey non-stop you should be reaching another island similar to Database Island by sunset. Stay high on the sky, and hide yourself inside the clouds. If all goes well, I'll meet you at File Island later this day."

"Thank you for your help, Omnimon," Elecmon said gratefully, while Airdramon nodded. "If it weren't for you, who knows what would happen to us."

"Glad I can help," Omnimon replied warmly. "And just one more thing before I go."

Omnimon's eyes let out the same white beams of light like before, only this time it was semi-transparent and was shot towards Airdramon's back. Elecmon glanced, and was glad to see that the baby digimon were protected by a circular barrier of light.

"There, that should ease your worries, Elecmon. Now go on. I'll be going to look for the Digidestined now."

"They were heading west the last time I saw them," Elecmon said, pointing towards the direction of Shadow Parish. He then motioned for the Zero Mountain. "And Boogeymon should be up there on that black mountain."

Omnimon nodded. "Thanks. Both of you, good journey." He then left Elecmon and Airdramon, heading towards Zero Mountain.

"Good luck, Omnimon," Elecmon said. "Alright Airdramon, let's get moving."

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right way, Whamon?" Kanto called up.

"Sure I'm sure, after all I've seen them Scubamon taking your girlfriend in this direction," Whamon's voice boomed all around them.

Kanto blushed. "Hey, Kira's not my girlfriend! She's a girl, and she's a friend, but she's not my girlfriend."

Sounds of guffawing were heard instead of a reply. Kanto decided not to pursue the matter anymore.

Currently, Kanto, Wizardmon, Renamon, Koemon and Hookmon were on their way to rescue Kira. Whamon had offered to take them to IceDevimon's Chill Cavern where their friend was held. At first, only Kanto, Wizardmon and Renamon wanted to go and save Kira. Then Koemon offered to follow them, saying that if it wasn't for him to ask Kira to come aboard the Bane Buccaneer all of this wouldn't happen. And as for Hookmon . . .

"Surely there's another better way than this. This is so undignified!" Hookmon muttered, and crossed his arms across his chest.

"You have any better idea?" Renamon snapped irritably. "Who asks you to follow us anyway?"

"Pirate's honor," Hookmon claimed loftily. "A captain is responsible for his crew and guests. Koemon is one of my crew, and you and Miss Kira are my guests. I am obliged for your safety."

"Whatever," Renamon said, rolling her eyes.

All of them were currently standing inside a pink-walled chamber, with the floors flooded with murky grey water. The chamber they were in was extremely spacious with narrow ceiling, but was dimly lit by an unknown source of light.

"I hope you all are comfortable inside of me," Whamon's voice boomed again.

"If you don't stop booming like that I think I'm gonna get an earache!" Hookmon yelled.

Whamon merely chuckled in response.

"Just be thankful you aren't gonna be deaf," Kanto pointed out.

Yes, they were INSIDE of Whamon. As Hookmon's Bane Buccaneer wasn't made for traveling underwater, there was only one other way to go deep down under the depth of the sea to save Kira. And that was by using Whamon as their vessel.

"I am so going to have a bath after this. I smell of fish," Hookmon said distastefully.

"Cheer up, captain. It's not like we get to see what it's like underwater everyday," Koemon said assuringly.

"This is certainly not the way I have in mind," Hookmon replied pointedly.

In the meantime, Kanto and Renamon were looking towards Wizardmon anxiously. The wizard digimon was currently using his staff to conjure up with a vision using his sight-beyond-sight spell in search for Kira. All they could see was the waters, and some small marine lives, planktons and underwater plants.

"No luck," Wizardmon said apologetically. "But I'll keep trying."

"Don't strain yourself," Kanto reminded. "We're gonna need your powers to rescue Kira."

"And what am I, if I may ask?" Hookmon asked, puffing out his chest. Renamon snorted in annoyance and turned her back from Hookmon.

Kanto raised an eyebrow. "Oh, we'll need you too, I guess." Hookmon grinned in satisfaction.

"I hope she is all right," Renamon whispered to herself. She was shaking slightly.

Kanto approached the yellow biped fox digimon. "Don't worry Renamon. We'll save Kira."

Renamon turned her head to face Kanto. "Yes. We will." She revealed Kira's Digivice, which she held firmly inside her left palm. "And when we do, I will be the one who will teach that IceDevimon a lesson for messing with MY partner."

Hearing Renamon's grim tone, everyone fell into silence. The only sounds they could hear were those of Whamon humming as he swam across the sea towards the Chill Cavern.

* * *

In the meantime, Max, Darien and Jon, along with their digimon partners, Leomon, and Ogremon, were racing towards Primary Village. They were expecting to meet Kira and Kanto there, but upon arriving there several minutes later they found the village deserted and in ruins. The earth shook mildly, but the village no longer bore the cheeriness and the pleasantry of Primary Village. Instead, it looked like a tarnished battlefield.

Leomon was aghast upon seeing the desolated condition of the village. "Tokomon!" he called for his charge, but got no response.

"Maybe they've evacuated the village," Jon supplied, and pointed around them. "Look, there's not a single baby digimon or Digi-eggs in sight."

"You're maybe right," Darien said. "But look at all those cracks . . . chances are some of them might have fallen into them."

Max glared pointedly towards the dark haired boy. "Thanks for the input," he said sarcastically.

Darien lowered his head, realizing that he had said the wrong thing. It only made Leomon grew more aghast as the lion man began to scour the entire ruins in search for any life forms.

"Sorry," Darien muttered apologetically.

Max considered it for a while. "Nah, forget it. We should be fighting Phelesmon now, not against each other." Darien smiled upon the comment.

"I don't see anyone here," Ogremon said gruffly. "Perhaps they've gotten away. I wouldn't hang out around in a place looking like this myself."

"Tell that to Leomon," Veedramon said. "He looks like he almost lost it."

Darien scanned the whole village worriedly. "I wonder where Kira and Kanto are right now. We haven't seen them since returning from Driver Cove."

"Maybe they are with Tokomon and the babies right now," Jon suggested.

"Yeah," Darien replied, sounding pretty much unsure of himself. "Maybe."

Leomon returned to them after a while, looking worried, tired and fearful. "There's no sign of them anywhere. I don't see them anywhere!"

Before anybody else could reply to Leomon, an unfamiliar voice came up from the sky. "Don't worry about them. Those who you are looking for have safely evacuated this island as we speak, and is now heading towards a safer island up north."

Looking up, all of them saw an armored digimon in white against the darkened sky. He seemed to be carrying an aura of regality and nobility with him, despite his injured condition.

"Who's that guy?" Jon wondered, and saw Leomon and Ogremon's faces turned to a look of awe.

"By the Sovereigns; it is you! Omnimon!" Leomon gasped. Ogremon harrumphed and turned away irritably.

"Elecmon, or should I say, Leomon, now?" Omnimon replied as he descended down from the sky. When his feet touched the ground, his height towered all of them to a nearly twenty feet.

"Omnimon, I haven't seen you since . . . ages ago," Leomon said. "Where have you been?"

Omnimon gave out a mild grunt. "I have been recuperating, Leomon. I was too deeply injured in my fight against Apocalymon a decade ago, and I couldn't heal myself as the injury gave out by his final attack was too great. I couldn't even de-digivolve, and thus, am forced to bear with the injury until now. I live beneath the oceans, with Otamamon as my companion."

"Ah . . . Otamamon. I've been wondering where and what he's up to for the last ten years," Leomon said.

"Did you say Apocalymon?" Ogremon inquired with interest. "The name sounds familiar; I must have heard it somewhere."

Omnimon nodded his head slightly. "Yes. Apocalymon is the main reason why the Digital World is currently at this state for ten long years."

He then glanced towards the three Digidestined, and gave a nod of acknowledgement. "So these are the Digidestined."

"We're short of two members," Jon informed. "There are actually five of us."

"So the legend says," Omnimon replied warmly. "I am much honored to meet the three of you, and I know about the other two Digidestined who are not present here at the moment. It seems to me that the sole female Digidestined in your group has been targeted by yet another evil digimon that resides beneath the sea."

"Kira!" Darien exclaimed. "What's happened to her?"

"All that I am informed now is that your friend, Kira . . ."

"She's my sister."

"Oh, right. As I was saying, your sister now is in the hands of a cold-hearted digimon called IceDevimon. I don't know of his purposes in capturing Kira, but right now, a team comprising of Otamamon and another fellow Digidestined, and the destined digimon as well, is on its way to IceDevimon's lair to free her."

"Kanto's already setting out to save Kira?" Jon wondered.

"Kira's in danger! I have to go and save her now!" Darien said frantically.

"Hold your horses!" Max barked, and grasped Darien's right shoulder. "Just how are we going to go there? What now, with the current problem in this island."

"She's my sister!" Darien shouted angrily, and shoved Max's hand aside.

Omnimon looked at Darien sympathetically. "I understand how you're feeling now, for having your sister captive in the hands of an evil digimon. But rest assured that Otamamon, or Whamon now that he has digivolved, is more than able to set out and rescue your sister. He's the only digimon around that can swim into the depth of the sea, and bringing along the other Digidestined as well to aid him in his mission. It has come to my attention that another two digimon have decided to join along as well; perhaps they are acquaintances acquired by your sister before the kidnapping happened."

Darien remained transfixed in his position, his eyes staring towards nowhere. He nodded weakly, pondering upon what to say next. The others looked towards his direction, anticipating his response.

"So what are we going to do now?" he finally asked.

Omnimon cleared his throat. "I am here to assist you in your battle against Phelesmon. But be warned that while I am a Mega, which is a level higher than Phelesmon, but my powers have been greatly weakened by the battle I had with the source of all evil happening now in this world. I am never cured, and recently I have been using a lot of my own powers to assist digimon in digivolving. After Whamon had brought me here from my underwater sanctuary, I have roamed nearly all over the island, and gave help for digimon to evacuate the island. Those who lived in Primary Village and Driver Cove were the lasts of them before I met all of you. I am greatly weakened, but I still am able to pose a challenge to Phelesmon."

"You said earlier that you're a Mega. What exactly is that?" Jon asked.

"A Mega is a highest level a digimon could possibly achieve. I think you have already known of all the levels up till champion, yes? Well, after champion there is ultimate level, which is the level Phelesmon is currently at. Then there is the mega level, considered to be the final stage of evolution for digimon."

"Woah," Jon said disbelievingly. "Are _you_ a mega digimon?"

"Yes, I'm a Mega, although in terms of strength, I've been weakened a great deal and my powers are ranging between ultimate and mega," Omnimon clarified. "I was actually looking for a way to reverse the DNA Digivolution process which is currently holding me in this form. Without reverting back into my previous forms, the injuries I have sustained from my last battle will not go away that easily."

"Yeah, I understand that," Kotemon said. "Whatever injuries I've sustained while battling as Dinohumon, they're healed gradually when I devolved."

Omnimon nodded. "Precisely."

"I don't think there's any need for that," Bearmon chimed in. "Wizardmon has healing abilities. So don't waste your power too much."

The holy knight digimon chuckled softly. "Yes, all Wizardmon have the innate ability to heal nearly all types of ailments a digimon could've gotten in battle. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that my wounds are beyond repair, even by Wizardmon; it would strain him to all of his own powers just to heal half of the injuries I have. The best way is for me to de-digivolve and recuperates, to heal and restore my powers. However, right now I still have enough power to aid you in your battle with Phelesmon. Hopefully, it will be enough."

"Are you kidding? We'll need all the help we can get just to lay a dent on that demon," Veedramon interjected.

"So let's get moving," Leomon suggested.

"Next stop: Zero Mountain," Bearmon said.

* * *

Phelesmon watched with hilarity from the highest peak of Zero Mountain towards the shores on all sides of the island. Many digimon were preparing to move out from the island. Airborne and marine based digimon were seen carrying smaller or land-based digimon over the sea. Some were still staying close to the beach, as they had no means to move out.

"It's a pity, because I'm certainly not going to wait until of you cretins to escape!" he laughed, and raised his pitchfork.

Multiple thunderbolts exploded from it towards all over the island. Upon hitting the lands, the rumblings intensified and deepened the chasms. Unbelievably the lands began to split up from the formed chasms into smaller portions.

Faint cries of outrage and surprise could be heard from where Phelesmon was standing. The demon digimon gave out a gleeful laughter, which echoed all over the land and somehow increased the rate of the separation of the lands.

"Watch and learn, for those who are against the Legion of Darkness! Let the destruction of Database Island . . ."

"Hold it right there, Phelesmon!" A loud regal voice suddenly interrupted Phelesmon.

Glancing over, Phelesmon saw a familiar holy knight digimon. He recognized Omnimon, having retained a memory of the battle between Omnimon and Apocalymon years ago. When Apocalymon released ten spirits of darkness into the portal which was guarded by Omnimon, one of them had been Phelesmon.

"Omnimon," he remarked in distaste, as Omnimon descended on the ground near him. Although the knight towered him nearly twice his size, Phelesmon was the least scared.

Several figures jumped out from Omnimon. Phelesmon recognized them as being those who he had battled earlier, and clicked his tongue.

"Must we go through all of this again?" he sighed mockingly. "I thought I was done with all of you cretins."

"You're the one who ran away," ToyAgumon pointed out as he and Max slid down Omnimon's cannon-hand. He had de-digivolved from Veedramon to make it easier for Omnimon to carry all of them.

"Let's get this over with!" Max exclaimed. "I'm getting tired of seeing you."

"Why, I feel the same way myself!" Phelesmon said venomously. "Black Statue!"

"What in the world?" both Max and ToyAgumon tried to jump out of way from the sudden attack. Luckily, Omnimon was quicker and shielded the pair with his cannon. The attack then was deflected, but a portion of Omnimon's cannon was frozen into stone-like statue, turning from its blue color to grey.

"Digivolve your partners now, I'll take care of him!" Omnimon ordered, and charged towards Phelesmon.

"Don't think I can't take you on just because you're a Mega!" Phelesmon spat. "I'll beat you in no time."

"Then bring it on!"

Both digimon took the sky and Phelesmon grew in size, becoming as tall as Omnimon. The two powerful digimon then began exchanging blows, with Omnimon using his Transcendence Sword and Supreme Cannon alternately, and Phelesmon skillfully avoided the blasts coming from the sword and the cannon.

* * *

Meanwhile . . .

"What are you ninnies waiting for?" Ogremon demanded impatiently towards the three Digidestined. "Do your stuffs now!"

Leomon merely smirked, while the boys exchanged looks with each other and held out their Digivices. Lights flared from the devices and showered the rookie digimon, energizing them with the power of digivolution.

"**ToyAgumon, Digivolve to . . . Veedramon!"**

"**Bearmon, Digivolve to . . . Grizzmon!"**

"**Kotemon, Digivolve to . . . Dinohumon!"**

"So what now?" Max asked. "It's not like any of the digimon we have can fly up there and help Omnimon."

"I don't know whether Omnimon needs the help from us or not," Darien pointed out. "Being a Mega digimon and all."

"That's quite an incorrect perception, Darien," Leomon said wisely. "In any battle, one mon can make a difference between victory and defeat."

"For now, we'll wait for our chances," Grizzmon suggested. "Omnimon told us that his power is not as high as it used to be . . . for all we know he could be only as strong as Phelesmon."

"Yeah," Dinohumon agreed, and brandished his knives determinedly. "We'll move in when Omnimon shows any signs of exhaustion."

* * *

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon roared, and aimed his blue cannon towards Phelesmon. A burst of crimson energy ball shot out from the lupine blaster, speeding towards Phelesmon.

Phelesmon raised his pitchfork and fired waves of thunderbolts in retaliation. The thunderbolts slammed against the blue energy ball, and neutralized each other. Omnimon's attack was powerful, but Phelesmon's comebacks were larger in number. Their combined efforts matched up to Omnimon's single attack.

Although this proved to be an advantage to Omnimon, but he had already been weakened from a decade's worth of unhealed wounds. This made him more susceptible to any more injury.

"Transcendent Sword!" he roared, sending out light violet streams of holy light out from his sword.

"I'm disappointed, Omnimon. Surely you can do better than this! Demon's Shout!" Phelesmon countered, and waves of spiraling red beam accompanied by the screams of the dead were generated from his mouth. It slammed Omnimon right on the center of his chest, but by focusing to hit Omnimon, Phelesmon also suffered some scorching from the knight's sword. He howled in pain as he felt an intense burning sensation on the chest and limbs.

"My sword contains holy attribute, which will ups all the odds against a demon like you!" Omnimon said. "Transcendent Sword!"

Phelesmon saw the incoming attack and glided away smoothly. Then he fired out thunderbolts again with his staff – this time around, equipping them with dark unholy energy.

"Here's a taste of your own medicine, sort of," Phelesmon snickered.

Omnimon found himself surrounded by black thunderbolts, and felt a dark aura resonating from them. He readied his sword and cannon and let out two bursts of attacks simultaneously – the Transcendent Sword and Supreme Cannon. The sword's purple streams of light combined with the red energy sphere and coalesced into one powerful stream of white light.

"Final Purification!"

The powerful, holy-based attack derived from both Omnimon's sword and cannon did just the trick as it neutralized all the dark thunderbolts that were surrounding him and made its way towards Phelesmon. The demon was frantic to see the holy light coming his way and quickly conjured up a black energy barrier around him using his pitchfork.

"Damn you, Omnimon!" he shouted, as the white lights engulfed the barrier.

"Let the lights of all that is holy purify your tainted soul, Phelesmon," Omnimon said grimly.

"NEVER! Black Statue!"

Black smokes erupted from the white lights around Phelesmon's barrier, and to Omnimon's surprise the smokes began to solidify the lights of Final Purification. The heavenly attack was frozen solid, and exploded as Phelesmon emerged from it, unharmed.

"Looks like you're not omnipotent after all," he said triumphantly, and laughed.

Omnimon growled in frustration. His suspicion was proved right; his power was currently only on par with any ultimate level digimon. Ten years of recuperating had not done any good to Omnimon aside from making him weaker than ever.

As he was about to attack again, suddenly his body glimmered with yellow lights. Omnimon felt power being drained from him.

"Oh no! Not now!" he gasped as his sword and cannon disappeared. "Of all the bad timings . . ."

He then transformed into a mote of brilliant golden light, before separating into two much smaller motes of red and blue lights. Then, they began to take form again – of a small, orange miniature of a tyrannosaurus rex and a yellow reptilian digimon covered with light blue fur with stripes of dark blue, and a horn was seen jutting out from the center of its head.

Phelesmon saw the de-transformation of Omnimon with a mixed feelings of amazed and glee, and laughed victoriously as the two smaller digimon fell onto the grounds, seventy feet down from the sky. He couldn't believe his luck! His chance of conquest was now in the palm of his hand.

* * *

Leomon saw the looming two digimon falling from the sky, his eyes trailing them as they plummeted down.

"Veedramon, help me up!" he instructed.

The blue dragon nodded and clasped both of his clawed hands together. Bending down slightly, he extended the clasped hands toward Leomon. The lion warrior then placed his right leg on top of the hands, readying himself to jump.

"Alley UP!" Veedramon said, and hoisted Leomon up towards the sky.

The external force coming from Veedramon enabled Leomon to jump higher than he could. Soaring towards the sky, he extended both arms forward as the two digimon were nearing him. With great agility, Leomon turned his body slightly and caught the t-rex miniature with his right arm, and the fur-wearing reptilian with another. Sighing in relief, he held both digimon close to him and made a flip in the forward direction before heading towards the ground again. After his feet touched the ground, Leomon slid his legs apart slightly to maintain balance.

"Great job, Leomon!" all Digidestined congratulated, as Leomon placed the two digimon he had just saved onto the ground.

"Humph! Show off!" Ogremon muttered, crossing his arms over his body.

"Omnimon? You've changed," Jon noted.

The t-rex sighed. "Out of all time when we could've de-digivolve, it had to be now. Now how are we gonna help these kids? Oh, by the way, I'm Agumon."

"And I'm called Gabumon," said the fur-wearing reptile warmly. Looking at his dinosaur companion, he added. "Rookie level both."

"Save the intros for later, because we've got company!" Max said urgently, pointing upwards.

The others looked up, and saw Phelesmon descending on the ground. The demon had returned to his normal height, and a mocking sneer was plastered on his face. He looked at Agumon and Gabumon and his sneer widened.

"Your last hope . . . gone!" he said. "I've defeated a mega digimon! And now, I'll finish off all of you!"

"Charge!" Veedramon roared, and stomped his way forward. He was followed closely by Grizzmon and Dinohumon, with Leomon leaping over the air and Ogremon reluctantly running far behind.

"V-Nova Blast!"

"Crescent Dawn!"

"Autumn Exorcism!"

"Fist of the Beast King!"

"Pummel Whack!"

Phelesmon eyed all attacks that were aimed towards him lazily. He inhaled deeply, and blew out a gust of air which seemed to be done without force. However, surprisingly it managed to deflect all five attacks back towards the five good digimon, throwing all of them backwards and onto the ground.

Leomon and Ogremon jumped up, both readying their sword and cudgel and charged towards Phelesmon again. Phelesmon took a step back, anticipating the two blows coming out from their fists. But, that wasn't what they had in mind. Leomon unsheathed his black sword quickly and threw it skillfully towards Phelesmon's pitchfork.

"What? No!" Phelesmon yelped, as he involuntarily let go of his weapon.

"Bone Cudgel!" Ogremon yelled, and slammed his ivory bone-stick hard on Phelesmon's right shoulder.

"Aaarrrgghh!" Phelesmon howled in pain, and eyed the two champion digimon angrily. "Insolent fools! You shall DIE!"

He then energized his sharp clawed hands with black aura and slashed them onto Ogremon's chest. Next, he maimed Leomon on the abdomen with a swift kick before delivering a punch on Leomon's face.

"Think you've gotten rid of me that easily? Well think again; I'm also a well-skilled hand-to-hand combatant!"

Both champion digimon then retreated, giving way for Dinohumon to strike.

"Lizard Dance!" the warrior summoned, and leapt towards the demon. With blades erupting with fire, Dinohumon attempted to hack Phelesmon's limbs without even noticing first what Phelesmon was attempting to do.

"Stupid data digimon will not going to harm me! Demon's Shout!"

"Yaaaaaah!" Dinohumon yelled, being thrown back away from Phelesmon by the intense waves, and landed on his hind.

Grizzmon then charged forward and eyed Phelesmon intently. "Crescent Dawn!"

Phelesmon quickly generated a thunderbolt with his right palm and slammed it forcefully onto the bear's face while evading the laser coming out from Grizzmon's eyes and the crescent mark on his forehead. However he realized his mistake when he saw Grizzmon, albeit hurting, was smiling viciously as his eyes shone.

"Gotcha! Counter Attack!" Grizzmon's front paws burned with red aura and he rammed them with all his might against Phelesmon's torso. Phelesmon shrieked in pain as he tumbled down, feeling his own power being used against him. Grizzmon had tackled him onto the ground, and was raising one paw up.

"I don't think so. Black Statue!" Waves of black smoke showered the raised paw and turned it into stone.

"What the . . . AAAAHHHH!" Grizzmon then found himself being smoldered by multiple thunderbolts, courtesy of the infuriated Phelesmon.

"So you like absorbing powers for your own use, huh?" he said, while continuously firing the thunderbolts. "It would be interesting to see on how you're going to take these!"

With the thunderbolts smoldering him non-stop, Grizzmon had no time to retaliate and fell on his back. When Phelesmon finally stopped his assault, Grizzmon had become the most injured of all digimon, with multiple lacerations on his body and a stoned, immobilized right paw.

"Oh no! Grizzmon!" Darien cried.

Veedramon, the remaining uninjured digimon, scanned his whole surrounding. Grizzmon was brutally hurt, Dinohumon was down, Leomon and Ogremon were both injured as well. It was now all up to him.

"V-Arrow Breath!" he summoned, and fired arrow-shaped laser repeatedly towards Phelesmon. He couldn't see any way for them to defeat Phelesmon anymore, with Omnimon out of the commission, and his friends defeated. He roared in frustration and thumped the ground forcefully in anger. The earth around them shook wildly upon the force delivered out from Veedramon's fury.

"This is bad . . ." Agumon said fearfully.

Gabumon nodded. "If this keeps up, I'm afraid he'll . . ."

"What? What's going to happen with Veedramon?" Max quickly interrupted, and winced as Veedramon's angry snarl echoed all over the air.

"You've hurt my friends, you've caused destruction on the island, you . . . you . . . everything you did, your very presence here . . . IT'S UNFORGIVABLE!!"

"Veedramon is very angry right now. There's a possibility that he'll Dark Digivolve if he doesn't cool off pronto," Agumon clarified.

"What's Dark Digivolve?" Jon inquired, while Max knitted his brows in wonder. He was lost as well, but was too overwhelmed with emotions which seemed strange to him.

"I'm sensing something . . ." he said, his body trembling. His face paled. "All the anger, all the rage . . ."

"It's a dangerous method of digivolution," Gabumon explained gravely. "Digimon can tap into their fury to digivolve while in emergency. However, if this is not done carefully and accompanied with the intention to kill or to destroy, the digivolution process will be corrupted, and the digimon will Dark Digivolve into their corrupted higher form. While in this stage, most digimon have been known to lose their mind and sanity."

"But what's happening to Max? Why is he feeling the angers he was saying?" Darien demanded.

Agumon looked over at Max fearfully, as the boy struggled not to stumble onto the ground. Darien quickly rushed over to support the redhead, as he trashed about uncontrollably. Jon then darted over and helped Darien to restrain Max.

"In Veedramon's case, being a digimon partner to Max, he had unwittingly channeled his emotions to his human partner as well," Gabumon answered.

"What's going to happen to Max?" Jon asked fearfully.

"We don't know," Agumon stated slowly. "It's never known to happen before."

Max convulsed even more violently as Veedramon roared, still showering Phelesmon with his V-Arrow Breath.

"Max! Snap out of it!" Darien pleaded, and grasped Max even tighter. Jon, being smaller and in terms of strength, weaker, was unfortunately thrown away. Luckily Agumon and Gabumon managed to catch him, or else he'd be sprawled over the battlefield. Darien quickly resorted to clutching the older boy's body with both hands from behind, and spread his legs to maintain balance.

"Someone's got to calm down Veedramon!" Agumon cried.

Jon's eyes immediately darted towards Dinohumon, who was already standing transfixed, watching his fellow destined digimon going berserk.

"Dinohumon, use the Autumn Exorcism to restrain Veedramon now!" he cried.

Dinohumon quickly regained his attention, and did just as what his partner had instructed. He summoned the mystical leaves and surrounded the infuriated dragon with them. Veedramon's continuous attack was instantly stopped as the kanji word of 'exorcism' materialized in front of his body. Dinohumon then chanted something gibberish to the humans' ears but judging from the looks of the digimon, was words which was perfectly understandable.

"Leomon, Ogremon, distract Phelesmon now!" Dinohumon asserted.

The two champion digimon complied and quickly fought Phelesmon, while Dinohumon continued chanting something which seemed to calm Veedramon.

Grizzmon, despite being hurt, struggled to stand back on his legs, preparing himself in case Dinohumon wasn't able to calm Veedramon down.

However Veedramon showed no sign of resisting, and Dinohumon was confident that he had successfully ease Veedramon's anger. With Veedramon gradually calming down, Max had also begun to stop convulsing. However the event had tired him, and he slumped down weakly.

Darien's hands, which were holding Max around his body, had accidentally slid a portion of the redhead's white shirt upward, revealing a bare abdomen. However what caught Darien's eyes was a faint reddish line just coming out from the unexposed upper part of Max's body.

'What's that mark?' he wondered silently, and out of curiosity he tugged the shirt upward. What greeted his sight shocked him, causing him to gasp loudly.

"Oh, my God! I don't believe it!"

* * *

Away from the commotions happening on the surface, Whamon hummed to himself as he swam smoothly deep under the sea. He had reached a very arid region, with no signs of lives around the barren underwater land. There was not even a single plant life there as well. Only stones and the hardened rocky ground were in sight, all in shades of deep blue.

Straight ahead, Whamon saw something glowing. Something white, and something really massive. He could identify a complex of buildings, all shaped like igloos and connected by tunnels to one another. The biggest igloo, built at the farthest back of the complex, was attached to tall stony walls, which stretched horizontally all across the desert land.

"The Chill Cavern," he said, without opening his mouth and sounding satisfied with himself. He then decided to announce their arrival to his passengers, who were deep inside of him. "Hey, guys! We're here!"

* * *

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**Author's Note:**

Another chapter done. A little note about Omnimon's joint attack: I know that 'Final Purification' is actually Gallantmon's attack in the game Digimon World 3, and apparently, created by Bandai for the cards as well. However as far as I know, the anime's version is called 'Final Elysian' while the American dub refer it as 'Shield of the Just'. So, I'm using the name Final Purification as a special made up attack for Omnimon.

One change on the time frame of this story; I've kinda messed up the duration of the Legion of Darkness ruling the Digital World. A century is absolutely TOO LONG; I've decided to decrease it from 100 years to 10 years, which seemed to be much more logical. It's long enough for the Legion to establish their power. I'll re-update chapter 2 and chapter 14 with this change together with updating the fic.

**_Quinton Notwen, Custom Magnum, Sukara-Nodori_** - Thanks for the reviews. Keep 'em coming!

And now; for the profile of the 4th member of the Digidestined. After going through the excerpts of what I've planned for the five Digidestined, I've decided to just provide the main features of each Digidestined and exclude the details, to give more room to character development.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**:: SPECIAL PRESENTATION: CHARACTER PROFILE ::**

**Name:** Jonathan 'Jon' Lee

**Age:** 11

**Hair:** Straight, blonde, parted in the middle. (Trunks (DBZ-GT) style)

**Eyes:** Blue, patterned as TK's eyes, with half-rimmed rectangular glasses

**Body type:** Thin, with fair skin

**General Info: **Pan Asian heritage.

**Clothes Description:** A long-sleeved dark grey shirt, knee-length khakis, and an orange bandanna around his neck

**Partner Digimon:** Kotemon

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	16. Fusion Confusion

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

_**Chapter 16 – Exodus, Part II**_

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"Tidal Wave!" Whamon announced, and the waters around him began moving against the natural undersea currents, being willed by the mighty whale digimon to move towards his back. He maneuvered the waters expertly before slamming it onto the walls of the nearest building of the Chill Cavern, successfully shattering the thick icy door of the igloo-like structure. Upon the difference of pressure between the waters and the inner side of the structure, water began flowing in fast through the broken door.

The commotion caused uproar from the Scubamon residing inside the Chill Cavern as some of them rushed to see what had happened at the upfront building. They screamed in horror as Whamon began to ram his way in through the broken door, but found half of his body stuck midway. Whamon groaned irritably; this wasn't what he had in mind. However, with him stuck there the seawater stopped flowing in.

Apparently, it still wasn't enough to stop the inhabitants of the dome from panicking.

"Intruder alert! We've been invaded! Send for reinforcement!"

Whamon sweatdropped. "Hey, cool it y'all! You're making noise . . . oh what the heck! Jet Arrow!"

Out from his two nostrils two jet of water shot out, and showered all the Scubamon. All the screaming were instantly drowned away by the water jets, and the Scubamon had no choice but to quickly fled the dome using the door located at the furthest end of the dome, connected to a tunnel leading to another dome.

Whamon grinned and decided to announce his arrival. "Looks like this is as far as I can go," he said, and opened his jaw wide.

From within the jaw, out walked Kanto, Wizardmon, Renamon, Hookmon and Koemon.

"Talk about a dramatic entry," Kanto said with a smile, looking around the inner structure of the building with a feeling of mixture and awe. The dome was in white, built from ice which somehow did not melt upon contact with water. The floors had been flooded to nearly Kanto's knee length. "Whoa, this place . . . looks like an underwater igloo to me!"

"Wizardmon, do you know where Kira is?" Renamon asked anxiously, ignoring Kanto's excitement.

The wizard nodded as he looked into his staff. "I do. This way," he directed, and began walking towards the door the Scubamon had used earlier to flee.

Hookmon clicked his tongue in disgust, seeing that his black boots and lower parts of his white trousers were wet. However seeing his companies' agitation to rescue their friend, the captain decided to hold his tongue, especially as not to irritate Renamon even further. He saw Koemon refraining from stepping down from Whamon's reddish pink lip, and frowned.

"Well? Aren't you coming?"

The small, green monkey digimon gulped fearfully. "Afraid not, captain. I think I'll stay here with Whamon. I'll drown the minute I step my foot down on the floor. Besides I'd just be holding all of you back if I tag along; I can't defend myself well enough."

Hookmon shrugged. "Suit yourself, crew."

When he looked back, Kanto, Wizardmon and Renamon are already setting forth towards the door mentioned by Wizardmon earlier. Hookmon quickly sprinted to catch up with them, sending splashes of water everywhere as he ran. "Hey, wait for me!"

"I'll be here if you need me!" Whamon called out cheerfully. "Good luck!"

After going through the door, the rescue team found themselves looking into a long, darkened tunnel connecting the building behind them with another igloo-like structure in front of them. Walking with caution, all of them saw that the tunnel's walls was actually transparent; they could see the breathtaking underwater view from where they were. If it weren't for the fact that they were on a mission, perhaps any of them would take a time to admire the beautiful scenery. Thus, they sped up with the walking and arrived at the other igloo, where white lights flowed out from the doorway.

Inside the dome-shaped building, all of them were treated with a special welcoming committee.

"Charge!" cried five Scubamon, taking them by surprise. They came from five different directions and began tackling Kanto and the others.

Wizardmon immediately took Kanto's hand with his arm, and raised his staff. "Thunder Blast!" he summoned, shocking two approaching Scubamon with the power of lightning.

"I do not have TIME for this!" Renamon shouted, and quickly jumped over the air. She loomed towards one Scubamon and aimed her glowing fists and foot. "Power Paw!" she cried, and punched one incoming Scubamon hard on the face, before aiming a well-placed kick over his rounded stomach. The unfortunate Scubamon doubled over on the ground and whimpered in pain.

"Move aside, Renamon, 'cause it's time for a real mon's job!" Hookmon declared, and aimed his cannon. "Captain Cannon!"

The cannonball erupting from his cannon zoomed and exploded upon contact with two Scubamon who happened to be on its way. Those Scubamon couldn't bear the strong force of the explosion and were deleted instantly.

"You don't have to delete them, Hookmon!" Renamon reprimanded with a frown. "We need them to tell us where Kira is."

"These scums are better off dead anyway," Hookmon muttered. "They're failed experimentations, remember? Besides your wizard friend is doing the whole tour-guide job, so no worries, Renamon."

Renamon grunted, and turned around just in time to watch Wizardmon sending out yet another shocker of an attack, electrocuting the remaining two Scubamon to a brink of unconsciousness. She then set her eyes on the Scubamon she had defeated earlier, and zipped towards it in a blink of the eye. The Scubamon was shocked, but was even more horrified when the golden fox appeared before him with a piercing glare.

"Tell us where Kira is, NOW!"

"If y-you mean t-the new queen, t-t-then she's at the dome farthest back of the Chill Cavern," the Scubamon stuttered in fear.

"Thank you," Renamon replied back, still keeping her stern tone. "Now, get out of my sight!" The Scubamon complied, and quickly got up and ran off towards the door where the rescue team had emerged from earlier.

Kanto shook his head. "Renamon sure packs quite a temper too," he whispered to Wizardmon's ears.

The wizard frowned a little before nodding. "I think I'd act the same way too, if it's you who are captured."

"Oh."

The rescue team then resumed their journey to look for their kidnapped friend, following the direction where the Scubamon had pointed of earlier.

* * *

Darien gasped in disbelief, his eyes transfixed on the faint reddish line scarred over Max's chest. "Who did this to you?"

The redhead, who was beginning to regain his consciousness, quickly tugged his shirt back down and glowered at the dark-haired boy. "It's . . . none of your business, Darien."

"To hell it's my business, Max! What happened to you?" Darien demanded.

Momentarily, Max was stunned upon hearing the reply from the other boy. Then he scowled and began to rise up, refusing support from Darien.

"Max, answer me! Why don't you tell us now what you've been keeping for yourself?" Darien asked, his voice softened a little. "That mark . . . I know for sure that it's an inflicted mark. Somebody had done this to you."

Jon approached the two older boys; his cerulean eyes were also reflecting the same shocked feeling Darien was having.

"When I first met you," he began, gaining Max's attention. "You said that you ran away from home. Is that the reason why you ran?" He pointed towards Max's chest, with his eyes boring into Max's own greenish-blue orbs.

"And you can keep that cold façade of yours down. We're not relenting to get the answers out from you, even though we're in the middle of the battle!" Darien said, and his eyes diverted momentarily to assess the situation.

At the moment, Dinohumon, Leomon and Ogremon were teaming up together to fight Phelesmon, while Grizzmon kept a close eye on Veedramon. Phelesmon seemed to be bored as he simply flicked off the attacks from his three opponents, while his eyes were constantly watching the DigiDestined from a far. It seemed that whatever that was happening with the boys, the demon man could care less. In fact, to him, it looked like as if they were in the middle of an argument. Phelesmon loved nothing more than that, and let them be.

"Why . . . do you care? Why do you want to know?" Max snapped, but his scowl began to disappear.

"Don't you get it, Max? We're your FRIENDS!" Darien hollered back. "And since we've got nobody else here, we're also a FAMILY! Families and friends always take care of each other. I thought you know that; you've always been a good friend to us all these times. You've been our leader, whether you know that or not . . . you always seem to know what to do. All of us admire you, Max . . . but we also feel that we hardly know you at all."

Max was genuinely stunned upon this, and he averted his eyes back and forth towards Darien and Jon. He looked nervous, and sweat beads began to form on his forehead.

"Do you mean it?" he whispered, as his bluish green eyes began to sting. "No one's ever said such things to me, not even a family."

"Of course I meant it," Darien said, his voice lowered almost into a whisper itself.

Loud footsteps were heard approaching them, and they saw Veedramon coming, followed closely by the injured Grizzmon from behind. The blue dragon then looked down towards his partner and nodded knowingly.

"Max, they're your friends too. Darien, Jon, Kanto, Kira, us digimon . . . we're all your friends. You've told me what happened to you, it's time you share it with them as well," he said encouragingly.

"I . . . I guess so," Max said meekly, and began telling his tale, trying his best to keep it short.

Loud cries were heard as Phelesmon blasted his thunderbolts towards the three digimon that were fighting him. Everyone saw how Dinohumon retaliated with the Lizard Dance, followed by Leomon and Ogremon who both opted to use their weapons. From the looks of it, it seemed that Phelesmon was merely toying with their digimon, looking absolutely pleased with himself for being able to defeat the mighty Omnimon, now reduced to Agumon and Gabumon. The three digimon fought valiantly, while keeping eye on each other as not to let Phelesmon harm any of them. Phelesmon entertained himself with merely firing thunderbolts from his hands, not even bothering to target them properly. However, reckless as it seemed the thunderbolts were actually causing the good digimon to fluster as they tried to avoid it. It soon dawned to them that this way, Phelesmon had successfully been draining all of their powers, but there was nothing else they could do other than evading the bolts.

"I don't believe it! Your own family! How . . . how DARE they do that to you!" Darien sputtered, after Max finished with his tale. "Wait till I get my hands on THEM, I... I'll show them! I'll tell them off! Hell, I'll REPORT them if I have to."

Jon merely choked out his agreement. "It's outrageous! I never know these things happen anymore."

"Max, why don't you tell anyone? Surely there's bound to be someone who can help you?" Darien asked. "Why don't you tell your mom, or your dad? Surely they care enough about you to get you out from your uncle's house!"

Max shook his head sadly. "I wanted to, but I just don't want to cause anymore trouble. My mom's really struggling with her career for now; she promised that she'd take care of me as soon as she managed to afford a home of our own. She doesn't know any of this . . . and I seldom keep in touch with my dad for him to know what happen to me." A tear trickled down his cheek, and Max furiously wiped it with his waistband, and groaned.

"I've promised myself not to cry anymore, and now it's been a third time I've broken my own vow."

"How can you keep it to yourself like that? No one can live with that on his own," Darien said softly. "Ever heard of the saying, no man's an island? You're not alone now . . . you have friends now. While we're here in the Digital World, we'll take care of each other. When we got back . . . hmm, if we do get back, that is . . . well, we'll cross the bridge when we get there."

Unnoticed to anyone, a soft red light began to pulsate from his Digivice.

Jon rolled his eyes good-naturedly, but it seemed that what Darien had just said had an effect on Max.

"Thanks . . . guys," Max said, finally not bothering to stop the tears that were furiously forming on his eyes. "I must really look like a wimp now, right?" he asked, while wiping the tears slowly with his waistbands.

Darien smiled warmly. "Not at all, Max. And when you say guys, you mean bro, right?" He raised an eyebrow to emphasis his question.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I think so," Max replied, sounding unsure of himself despite the smile he was having on his face. "Thanks, bro."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Darien replied, and gave Max a brotherly embrace. "Anytime, bro. Anytime."

Max returned the embrace, and it was then his Digivice flared with brilliant blue light. He quickly broke off the hug and took out his Digivice from his trousers pocket. Examining the Digivice, his face once again returned to his usual serious demeanour.

"What's going on here? Why is my Digivice letting out these lights?"

"Hey! Mine's too," Darien said, taking out his Digivice. "But not as bright as yours."

"Nothing's happening to my Digivice though," Jon noted, after examining his Digivice.

Agumon and Gabumon, who were close by, approached the DigiDestined and felt somehow drawn to the lights. Both wore a confused expression on their faces, and voiced their concern to the DigiDestined.

"This is too strange," Agumon said. "I think I'm feeling the lights calling out for me."

"You're not the only one, Agumon," Gabumon replied. "I'm feeling it too. What do you think it means?"

"It's as if the lights are beckoning me to help these kids with all I got, even though I no longer have the means to fight anymore!" Agumon cried, and his eyes widened in realization. "Of course! There's still a way!"

"Yeah, I felt it too. The lights . . . they're asking for our help!"

"Right. We can no longer fight Phelesmon and the other Legion of Darkness, but the DigiDestined can!"

"Let's give our remaining power to them now. They are our only hope!"

Agumon and Gabumon then reached out their paws towards Max and Darien's Digivices, and white lights began to form around their body. The lights then left their bodies and entered the two Digivices, causing both Digivices to glimmer with blue and red lights. The blue light that had been let out by Max's Digivice pulsated, while the red light coming from Darien's Digivice intensified until it was pulsating at the same rate as Max's.

"We've already give all we got," Agumon said, his voice sounding slightly weak.

"Now it's your turn. Give it your best shot!" Gabumon cheered, albeit sounding weakened himself.

"But how?" Both Max and Darien inquired at the same time.

And instantly, each of them felt a different heartbeat synchronizing with his own. The two heartbeats then harmonized with each other . . .

"A miracle will happen," Agumon said, as the Digivices enveloped Veedramon and Grizzmon with their respective light colors.

"**_VEEDRAMON . . . !"_** Veedramon cried, as he turned into a glowing streak of blue light and shot up to the air.

"**_GRIZZMON . . . !"_** Grizzmon followed suit, transforming into a glimmering mote of red light and shot towards the sky as well.

Then, the two streaks of light coalesced with each other across the sky, drawing even the attention of the fighting digimon. Phelesmon uttered a swear word upon seeing what was happening, while Dinohumon, Leomon and Ogremon were too stunned to say anything. The DigiDestined had no clue of what was happening, but as they looked towards Agumon and Gabumon frantically, they saw the two Rookies mouthing silently the exact words that blared across the sky, as if knowing all along what was about to happen.

"_**DNA DIGIVOLVE TO . . ."**_

The two lights then merged into one and a blinding flash of light exploded over the air. The DigiDestined and all the digimon had to cover their eyes and the sounds of something metallic clasping to each other were the only thing they could hear. But neither had a clue of what was going on. Only when the lights had slowly beginning to dissipate, they opened their eyes again. What they saw amidst the lights that shone against the dark night sky amazed all of them, especially Max and Darien. There on the sky, was no longer Veedramon or Grizzmon.

Instead there was a new humanoid digimon; with dark grey armor adorned all over his tall and powerfully built body. He stood at a towering eight feet tall and had a foreboding aura radiating all over him. Shining ivory metal were seen festooned on both his thigh armor, his shoulder armor, and on the digimon's face, sculpted in a dragon-like shape judging by the two sharp horns jutting out from the facemask. Long blades with pointed tips protruded from his elbows, and his five fingers all ended up with sharp silver talons. The same was true for his large toes, although there were only two of them. Two pairs of tattered red wings were seen on his back, as well as a long, dragon-like grey tail coming out from his hind. This new digimon had a distinctive futuristic feature on itself, looking semi-mechanical with the tubes connecting to his legs and torso, safely hidden beneath the impressive dark armor. The digimon then announced his name with a joint voice which sounded like both Veedramon and Grizzmon were talking, coupled with an imposing deep echoing quality.

" **_. . . CYBERDRAMON!"_**

"By the Sovereigns; it's a Cyberdramon!" Agumon said excitedly, practically jumping up and down. "This ultimate level, vaccine type digimon is a fierce warrior who deletes evil with his Desolation Claw and Cyber Nail! It looks like we've evened up the score already!"

Both Max and Darien looked up in awe as Cyberdramon descended towards them.

"What's just happened?" Darien asked, feeling confused of the event that just happened before him. "Did they just . . . merge?"

"Yeah! Your partners have DNA Digivolved together to form a powerful, ultimate level digimon that is neither Veedramon nor Grizzmon, but a digimon with both of their traits," Gabumon explained, clearly excited as well but seemed to be in more control of himself.

"It must have happened when the two of you reached an understanding with each other," Agumon pointed out, still jumping excitedly.

"Really?" Max asked. "If I'd known something like this to happen, then perhaps I would do this sooner. Oh man, Cyberdramon looks really awesome!"

"You bet we are," replied the duo voice of Cyberdramon. "I mean, you bet I am."

Darien grinned, and looked up to the tall digimon. Compared to Cyberdramon, Darien's height was just slightly past half of the dragon's height. "Hey buddy . . . what do you say if you go out there, kick Phelesmon's butt, and finish him off once and for all?"

Cyberdramon smirked, showing his set of gleaming fangs. "You know, I really like the sound of that." He advanced towards Phelesmon slowly, beckoning for Leomon, Ogremon and Dinohumon to move aside.

Phelesmon grew wary of his current predicament. True, Cyberdramon was at the same level as he was, but that was the only thing that marked the similarity between them. While Phelesmon had beaten Omnimon, who was one level higher than he was, the knight digimon was battling him with the lasts of his powers, which was proven when he de-digivolved back into two rookie digimon. This new opponent he was facing had many advantages against him, and Phelesmon didn't like any of them one bit.

Firstly, there was the fact that Cyberdramon was a newly digivolved digimon. Despite all ailments a digimon had gotten, when it digivolved, all those wounds were healed automatically. Secondly, the peculiar method of Cyberdramon's formation – which was from two champion level digimon; Phelesmon had only heard rumor about the possibility of it to happen. Apparently Omnimon was also formed with such a method. Then there was also the difference in their type; Cyberdramon was a vaccine digimon, which gave him an advantage against the virus type Phelesmon. Finally, Phelesmon had been through a lot of power draining occurrences throughout the day, and had no time to revitalize his powers back.

"Then there's only one thing to do," Phelesmon murmured, and with a flick of his hand he grew back to the size he had assumed while fighting Omnimon.

Cyberdramon snarled, and spread his crimson wings to fly up to Phelesmon's eye level.

"Cyber Nail!" he roared, and unleashed multiple crescent-shaped green energy blasts towards Phelesmon's face.

The assault was strong enough to throw Phelesmon off-balance, and before the demon could retaliate, the cybernetic warrior showered him again with rains of his Cyber Nail attack.

"Curse it! He's too fast!" Phelesmon grunted, and howled when the energy blasts pierced him on multiple sites of his body and limbs. It was then Phelesmon realized that he had made a wrong move. Being large, he had unwittingly decreased his mobility and agility, giving Cyberdramon another advantage again.

"Demon's Shout!" he cried, and his already-high pitched screams intensified into a furiously ear-splitting wail and shriek. Fully expecting Cyberdramon to be affected, Phelesmon plunged in multiple thunderbolts towards his foe, already counting in his victory.

However, to his surprise Cyberdramon was unfazed with his screams, and deflected all thunderbolts with a series of punches and kicks.

"Your pitiful screams won't work against me, Phelesmon!" he said, smirking and tapped his shining white helmet lightly. He then slammed his body against Phelesmon and elbowed his torso and abdomen. The blades on his elbows pierced through the thick skin of Phelesmon's bare body and penetrated to the insides. Cyberdramon then jumped away and noted with grim satisfaction that dark grey blood were beginning to ooze out from the inflicted wound sites.

This took Phelesmon aback greatly as he snarled. The wounds weren't paining him too much, but he was more than angry over the fact that he had been wounded while Cyberdramon was still in perfect shape. Besides he had already lost his pitchfork . . . no, it had merely been taken of his hand by the champion digimon he was fighting earlier. If only he could have located it . . .

"Aha!" he cried triumphantly, and found his black weapon lay on the ground unnoticed. He held out his right hand downward, and willed the pitchfork to come back to his hand. It moved slightly before standing upright, willed by Phelesmon's power. However when it was about to raise itself, a pair of alert eyes caught sight on it and was not going to let it happen.

"Autumn Exorcism!" cried Dinohumon, summoning winds of autumn leaves to surround the pitchfork. The kanji word of exorcism glowed with golden lights in front of the pitchfork, and neutralized the dark powers of the pitchfork with its holy attributes. After being purified, the leaves brought the staff towards Dinohumon's outstretched hands. The dino-warrior then held it with both hands, and snapped it into two.

"NOOOO!!!" Phelesmon shouted angrily, as the halved pitchfork burst into data particles.

"Good thinking, Dinohumon!" Cyberdramon complimented, and Dinohumon waved back a hand before reverting back to Kotemon.

"That weakling, he is going to PAY for what he did to my staff!" Phelesmon declared, and aimed a hand towards the unsuspecting Rookie. "Black . . ."

"Oh no, you don't! Cyber Nail!" Cyberdramon intercepted, and fired a barrage of energy blasts to intercept the incoming attack from Phelesmon. "No one attempts a stunt like that to MY friends and gets away with it! Desolation Claw!"

Cyberdramon crossed his arms over the air as the sharp nails of his began to emit dark green aura. Then he made a slashing motion with both arms by uncrossing them, and the green aura around him shot out towards Phelesmon's face in forms of dark green waves of energy. Phelesmon quickly made a move to cover his head, but he wasn't fast enough to block the attack.

"My Desolation Claw can even rip dimensions apart; there's no way you can block out the attack," he said, as the attack pierced Phelesmon on his cheeks, causing dark-colored liquid to flow out from the gashes resulted from Cyberdramon's claws. Not giving Phelesmon any chance to strike back, Cyberdramon unleashed his Cyber Nail again, severing Phelesmon's wings, limbs and body with it. More black blood trickled out from the lacerations, and Phelesmon couldn't do nothing but to scream loudly, as the pains were extremely excruciating.

Subsequently, with the bloods coming out from his body, Phelesmon was severely weakened as well. Thus he no longer was able to retain his massive form, and reverted back to his normal mode.

Cyberdramon immediately lunged forward and impaled his right claws deep into Phelesmon's left side of chest.

"Just as I thought," he spat. "You never do have a heart. A heartless digimon such as the likes of you have no right to walk the Digital World. I'll delete you if it's the last thing I do!"

"I'll never be deleted, NEVER!" Phelesmon hissed, as he struggled to move Cyberdramon's claw from his body.

"Oh yeah? Then don't just get deleted," Cyberdramon replied viciously, and groped Phelesmon's neck tightly with his left hand. He squeezed as hard as he could muster, and Phelesmon flung his arms and legs frantically as the air supply he was getting was dangerously depleting. His pupils dilated and his voice sounded coarse as he tried to speak. "Do us all a favor and JUST . . . FREAKING . . . _DIE_ INSTEAD!!!"

Cyberdramon then used all the strength he could muster and crushed Phelesmon's neck completely, causing the demon to immediately explode into data particles. The ferocious warrior then observed the crimson data bits hovering all over the air, before the winds blew it away towards the sea. He sighed; their enemy was finally defeated, and hopefully this time, Phelesmon would be gone for good.

"If he's back," he said mentally. "Then I'll be waiting."

* * *

"Diamond Storm!"

"Thunder Blast!"

"Captain Cannon!"

As they were reaching deeper inside the underwater ice fortress of IceDevimon, the rescue team had encountered even more Scubamon. It seemed like either IceDevimon was unaware of their arrival, or he was the one who sent out the Scubamon to attack them. The three digimon were careful not to exert a lot of their powers for battle the 'failed experimentations' as Hookmon had put it in.

"How much further do we have to go before reaching the place where Kira is being held?" Renamon demanded, and took a deep breath.

"Hold on, I'll check," Wizardmon replied, and examined his wand again. "Magical Game!"

The magical staff showed the doorway leading to yet another ice tunnel, and from the transparent ice walls they could see what looked like the largest dome of all the igloos of the fortress. Beyond the door connecting the tunnel and the large dome was an all-white spacious chamber, and Wizardmon noticed two humanly creatures present there when the magic instilled in the staff died out.

"It seems like whatever is inside the chamber, my magic won't be much of a use there," he theorized. "My staff won't show me clear images of whomever inside the largest dome over there." He gestured towards the doorway at the end of the dome they were currently in.

"Kira must be held there," Kanto decided. "Did you manage to see her?"

"I did see two human-like digimon, looking like blurs of white," Wizardmon answered thoughtfully. "One of them might be her, but I'm not positively sure."

"Then it is settled! We are going there." Renamon decided.

Together they made it through the tunnels and reached the doorway which Wizardmon saw earlier with his staff. Locked, the door was also sturdy in structure and was able to withstand Hookmon's cannons, which was the way the group had used earlier to enter the other domes. Just as all of them were wondering of how to get in, suddenly the door slid open mysteriously.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, they walked in and saw . . . a tall humanly digimon wearing all-white leather attire, resembling a fallen angel. This was IceDevimon, and beside him was a smaller human whom stood until half of IceDevimon's height. This human was familiar, yet so different from the one they used to know back then.

"Kira!" Both Renamon and Kanto called out.

"I don't like the looks of him," Wizardmon said. "Who is he?"

Hookmon snorted distastefully and replied. "That's IceDevimon; champion level fallen angel digimon, virus type. This heartless devil wields the power of ice to combat his opponents with his two dangerous techniques: Frost Claw, and Zero Freeze."

"Well, well, well; what do we have here? A rescue team in hopes of rescuing my fair queen, who's also now, happens to be . . . my human partner?" IceDevimon inquired with a mocking smile. "And surprisingly, Dragomon's loser pirate as well. To what do I owe the honors?

Hookmon fumed with anger, but Renamon beat him in shouting back a reply.

"What do you mean, your human partner? She's MY human partner!"

IceDevimon chuckled insultingly. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Kira stepped forward and everyone could see how much she was different from before. Her skin had become pale, and slightly cyanotic. Her regular outfit had changed into a glittering white gown, with her sandy brown hair cascading down her small back. She was holding a long staff with her right hand. But what was so strikingly different was her eyes; the pupils were no longer the expressive brown ones everyone remembered she used to have, but were now glowing red, and the eyes were slightly sunken. There was a cold, forbidding aura radiating around her as she walked past IceDevimon.

"I'm the queen around here, and IceDevimon is my partner," she said monotonously, which was so unlike her usual vibrant tone.

"What? No! What are you talking about, Kira?" Renamon wondered, shocked. "Don't you remember . . . we are partners?"

Kira stared at the golden fox momentarily, her face worn a confused expression. "No," she said after a while. "I don't remember you."

"Kira, what're you saying?" Kanto asked, surprised to hear the confession.

"It seems like she's under some kind of spell," Wizardmon whispered urgently to his partner. "Look at her eyes."

Kanto did as he was directed, and gasped. "Oh, no! It's not the Curse of the Crimson Eyes, is it?"

"No. IceDevimon is not a part of the Legion of Darkness," Hookmon answered. "He rebelled against Dragomon, who IS one of the Legions. But that doesn't mean that he's weak. As far as I know, he's been giving Dragomon pretty much a hard time over the years after his mutiny. IceDevimon is not to be taken lightly – he is a dangerous opponent and it is impertinent if we . . ."

Renamon groaned, and immediately jumped upwards before Hookmon could've finish with his suggestion. "You let my partner go! Diamond Storm!"

"What an idiot," Hookmon snorted, upon seeing Renamon's rash action.

Shards of crystals showered IceDevimon, but the devil simply smirked and moved out of the way. He waved his hand lazily, and somehow the diamond shards' course was altered. To Renamon's horror, the attack was now focused solely on . . . Kira!

However, to everyone's surprise the staff Kira was holding suddenly glowed and shielded Kira with a protective force-field, which blocked her from Renamon's diamond shards. Renamon was relieved, but her eyes bulged wide when she saw Kira was aiming her staff towards her. Before she could've done anything, a spark of ice-cold lightning bolt erupted from the staff and blasted Renamon squarely on the chest.

"Arrrgh!" the kitsune cried, and limped onto the ground. IceDevimon laughed heartily upon seeing Renamon taken down by her own human partner.

"So much for the legendary DigiDestined," he mocked, and bowed slightly to Kira. "My queen, I think it is best for you to get rid of this pest."

Kira smiled coldly, and pointed her staff towards Renamon's head. "Say goodbye, fox."

"Kira . . . open your heart!" she said weakly. "You do not belong here. You are a DigiDestined, and you are my human partner."

A flicker of doubt crossed the girl's eyes, and Renamon saw it too. The kitsune then held out her right paw, and produced Kira's Digivice which she had kept safely hidden within the pocket dimension she had just recently discovered along her invisibility talent.

"Behold, _this_ is your Digivice, Kira. It links you to me, and I you. We're partners."

"My . . . partner?" she asked. The Digivice Renamon was holding then hovered from the fox's hand and Kira subconsciously stretched out her free arm to take it. Kira examined the device in her hands with careful consideration, and she grew mystified by its familiarity in her hands. "My . . . Digivice."

"No!" IceDevimon swore. "NO!"

Yellow lights flared out from the Digivice, and enveloped the possessed girl. The red glow from her eyes was gone, and her gown shrunk before reverting back to her original pink and white outfit. The staff she was holding quickly melted upon contact with the warm yellow light, and combusted into data particles. Her appearance had gone a major retransformation as well, back to the one she used to be.

"Renamon?" she asked weakly, looking at the fox. Her brown eyes widened upon seeing the condition of the yellow fox, and Kira instantly realized what had happened to her. She knelt down beside the kitsune, her eyes beginning to glimmer with tears as she recollected the brief event that had happened while she was under IceDevimon's control.

"Oh no, what have I done? Renamon! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to! I'm sorry . . ."

Renamon smiled weakly and closed her eyes. Her facial expression was calm and content.

"Re-Renamon? RENAMON!!"

Tears dropped down from Kira's eyes as she despairingly called out for her fallen partner's name. Without being noticed, the teardrops fell onto Kira's Digivice, causing the device to glow again with the same bright yellow lights, enveloping the injured Renamon with it. Renamon's eyes snapped open again and she felt a familiar energy coursing within her body, healing her injuries while giving her power to ascend to the next level of evolution.

"**Renamon, Digivolve to . . . Kyubimon!"**

"Kyubimon . . ."

The nine-tailed fox turned to face her partner. "Kira, welcome back." She nuzzled her head to Kira's to show her deep appreciation.

"I'm so sorry for attacking you earlier."

Kyubimon nodded. "Don't worry; I take no heart of it."

"No! You ruined everything!" IceDevimon shouted, as Kyubimon leapt on all fours in front of him. Her dark eyes were glaring towards the fallen angel.

"Give me one good reason of not finishing you right now," she said venomously. "After what you did to Kira . . ."

IceDevimon's eyes flashed with fury as he swiped his large claws towards Kyubimon. "How's this for a reason? Frost Claw!"

Kyubimon quickly tried to evade the attack by jumping backwards, but to her surprise IceDevimon's limb expanded in great length and knocked her off her footings. She stumbled onto the floor and rolled over to stop herself from colliding with her friends.

Hookmon quickly jumped in and aimed his cannon towards IceDevimon. "Captain Cannon!"

The cannonball was unleashed and exploded on IceDevimon's chest. However the fallen angel was unharmed.

"You little pirate trash! Frost Claw!" he yelled, and slammed his claws on the pirate's body. Hookmon was thrown towards the walls of the wide chamber.

Wizardmon decided to tackle the situation by flying, and rose towards the ceilings. "Thunder Blast!"

IceDevimon saw the magician digimon, and spread his wings wide. He then summoned fierce winds and snows out from it to freeze the thunderbolts Wizardmon was shooting towards him. "Zero Freeze!"

As his comeback froze the thunderbolts, IceDevimon rose to the ceiling as well and slapped the wizard digimon with his claws. Wizardmon was knocked off balance and plummeted down from the ceiling, and landed on the white floor with a loud thud.

"Wizardmon!" Kanto cried, but the wizard simply got up again as faint blue lights surrounded him. A relieved smile crept past his lips. "He's healing himself . . . that's a relief."

"Kanto!" His attention was diverted when he felt somebody hugging him from behind. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Kira.

"I'm so glad that you came," the girl said gratefully. She still had tear stains all over her face, which betrayed the excited tone of her voice. "Thank you."

"For a while, you scared us back then," Kanto replied, squirming slightly to get Kira to release him. "Umm . . . do you think you can let go of me now? What happened to you back then anyway?"

Kira released the younger, yet taller boy and managed a small smile. "Oh! Sorry about that. Anyway, I don't know how it happened . . . I remembered bossing around three of those amphibian creatures when they had thought that I was to be their queen, when suddenly that IceDevimon appear . . ."

Kanto raised a curious eyebrow. "Bossing around? This I've got to hear, but not now. You owe us a story on our way back."

"Alright," Kira nodded, when suddenly a thought came to her. She wrinkled her nose, as if catching a very bad smell. "Speaking of which, how DID you guys come here? And how come you smell so . . . _fishy_? Not the suspicious-fishy, but like a fishmonger's fishy . . . if you get what I mean."

Kanto sweatdropped, and inspected himself by sniffing his hands and shoulders before shrugging. "I think you'll know soon enough."

Kira giggled. "You look so cute doing like that!" The comment caused Kanto to sweatdrop again, but he decided to ignore it and focused his attention back to the battle which was going on.

Kyubimon, Wizardmon and Hookmon had now regrouped, and tried to tackle IceDevimon together. IceDevimon proved to be a strong foe, but all his attacks seemed to be based solely on cold and ice. It was exactly the opposite of Kyubimon, whom had fire-based attacks.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" she cried, and generated nine fire spirits from the tips of her nine tails.

"Zero Freeze!" IceDevimon countered, freezing the flames with his cold winds.

Wizardmon and Hookmon took a few steps back, watching the battle of two opposite elements taking place. Every time when Kyubimon attacked, IceDevimon came up with a counter attack to nullify the fox's assault. They seemed to be on par in terms of strength.

"Kira is destined to be our queen!" IceDevimon roared, and summoned his winds again. "She's meant to help us with our cause! How dare you intervene her destiny, fox!"

"No! She is a DigiDestined, one of the five prophesized beings that would bring peace back to the Digital World. And _you_ almost have ruined it!" Kyubimon shot back. Then she jumped forward, and rolled over the air as blue flames engulfed her. "Dragon Wheel!"

"GAH! Frost Claw!" IceDevimon shouted angrily, slamming his claws on the blue dragon specter that was dashing towards him. Upon contact, the flames were instantly extinguished and Kyubimon reverted back to her fox form.

Wizardmon knitted his brows upon watching the battle. Kyubimon and IceDevimon were like yin and yang. One represented the light, while the other represented the darkness. They were equal in all terms, and had the same purpose. Both wanted Kira for herself/himself, and weren't going to let the other win. If Kyubimon was to win this battle, she would need extra assistance.

And Wizardmon knew just the thing to help his friend out.

"Kyubimon!" Wizardmon suddenly called out, aiming his staff towards the fox. Blue aura suddenly surrounded the fox, replenishing her powers back to full strength.

"Thank you, Wizardmon," Kyubimon said gratefully as the blue aura faded. She rose to her feet again and prepared herself again.

"What . . . what did he do to you?" IceDevimon demanded.

"Just giving a fellow friend a pick-me-up!" Wizardmon called out with a wave of his staff.

"You can do it Kyubimon!" Kira shouted encouragingly.

Kyubimon felt warm all over. Hearing her partner's voice had boosted her confidence; she believed in her, and Kyubimon wasn't going to let her partner down. Not anymore, she promised silently.

"What's the meaning of this?" IceDevimon demanded again.

Kyubimon closed her eyes solemnly as she summoned all her powers to create an ultimate attack to beat IceDevimon. First, it was the flames on her feet that were ignited, followed by the flames on the tips of her erected tails. It was like she was about to unleash her Fox Tail Inferno again.

"_FOX . . ."_

But then, her body began to flare with blue flames as well, and she became the blue dragon specter like the way she would with the Dragon Wheel. The earlier-ignited flames then surrounded her body in forms of fire spirits and let out some kind of an eerie sound that echoed all over the dome.

"_DRAGON . . ."_

Kyubimon, as the blue specter, roared loudly as she rose quickly towards the ceiling. The flames surrounding her spectral body orbited around her as she loomed down towards IceDevimon. The temperature inside the dome instantly elevated and all the ice walls, ceilings and floors were beginning to look like they were melting. Kyubimon then willed the nine fire spirits around her to zoom towards IceDevimon, severing the fallen angel on the wings, limbs and body. Then she delivered the finale and wrapped her pure-energy serpentine body around IceDevimon, and crushed the devil with her weight.

"_. . . INFERNO!!"_

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" IceDevimon screamed as he was burnt by the dragon's intensely hot blue flames. With a blink of the eye, he instantly combusted into data particles as specter-Kyubimon landed on the ground, reverting back to a very weak Renamon.

Kanto and Kira both gasped upon the amazing display of attack from Kyubimon.

"Unbelievable!" Kira whispered. "She's beaten IceDevimon for good."

"That's one powerful attack!" Kanto said, awed. He had a momentary flashback of how Wizardmon changed into a shadow of a sword-wielding warrior back when they were fighting Boogeymon, and decided that Kyubimon had just done the same thing. How, he was unsure, but he was glad that IceDevimon was gone.

Wizardmon and Hookmon both darted towards Renamon, and helped the biped fox up. Together, all of them made their way back towards the entrance dome where they had left Whamon and Koemon, and along the way Kira related her story to the others.

After rejoining back with Whamon and Koemon, the whale congratulated them for accomplishing their task, and saw Kira trembling slightly upon laying her eyes on his massive form.

"So this is the missing DigiDestined," he chuckled. "Quite a catch you are, little missy. No pun intended."

"Whamon here is our vessel to go up to the surface," Kanto revealed with a cheeky grin. "Hence the _fishy_ smell you've mentioned earlier."

Kira's eyes bulged wide. "You mean . . . all of us are going inside of HIM?"

Kanto smirked. "Do you see another way?"

Kira took a few steps back, her face looked horrified. "You've GOT to be kidding me!"

Whamon rolled his eyes. "Here we go again . . . another Hookmon."

"I heard that!" the captain shouted. Koemon giggled.

"C'mon Kira . . . don't go Queenie on us now," Kanto pleaded, remembering Kira's story. He sweatdropped upon the mental image he had came up with, and shook his head slightly. "Surely you don't want to be left here?"

Kira pouted. "But . . . is there any other way? I don't want to end up smelling like you. No offense to you, Whamon."

"This could take a while," Whamon said good-naturedly. "But I can wait. I kinda enjoy watching the young couple having an argument."

Both DigiDestined flushed bright pink, while the digimon around them snickered.

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"Whamon, I told you that she's a girl, and she's a friend . . . But she's not my girlfriend!"

It took much persuasion, and surprisingly it took Hookmon to promise Kira that when they reached the surface Kira would be the first one to get to enjoy a nice hot bath inside the Bane Buccaneer's bathroom. Upon hearing that, the girl's face lit up and all of them finally boarded Whamon and made their way back up to the surface.

* * *

As Whamon made his way out of the Chill Cavern, a pair of yellow eyes was watching him from afar, where it was dark. Nothing else could be seen of the observer's body except for the eyes. Then, it decided to step out from the darkness, revealing a monstrous purple figure which looked like a purple mutated octopus.

"Those children have unwittingly rid me of my biggest problem," Dragomon muttered to himself. His upper appendages revealed a glowing white orb, which he had used to watch the battle happening inside the Chill Cavern. "For years, IceDevimon had been a thorn on my side, yet the girl he was after proved to be his undoing. And that fox . . . Renamon, she is powerful. As a mere champion, data type digimon, she had defeated a strong virus type such as the likes of IceDevimon. Perhaps it will be more interesting to watch how the girl and the fox progress in their partnership."

Dragomon lifted his gaze from the orb and saw Whamon swam even farther from the Chill Cavern. He grunted, and resumed observing the events showed by the orb.

"Unbelievably, Phelesmon is trounced as well. These DigiDestined are indeed a force to be reckoned with. And somehow, they have gotten stronger. Is it not just the day before when the five of them had difficulty just to defeat Phelesmon while he was just in champion level? Yet today, they had been separated and faced two powerful digimon, and still emerged victorious. This is uncanny and curious as well."

An image of Veedramon and Grizzmon merging into Cyberdramon flashed from the orb, attracting Dragomon's attention.

"Omnimon has finally been whitewashed out of the picture as well, but this new warrior steps in. It is not the end after all for the forces of good. I shall be wary of this Cyberdramon. He is a strong digimon; powerful for an ultimate level digimon."

Dragomon then saw Kyubimon combining her two signature attacks to form a stronger assault against IceDevimon, which had successfully deleted him.

"And this fox is certainly special in her own ways. Her partnership with the girl definitely plays a major role in this. IceDevimon is right for thinking that they could be his answer to strengthen his troops in order to dethrone me. However he is rash; he should have waited longer and observed them carefully before taking action. And that is what I shall do; I will not make my move first. I shall wait; I have waited long enough for a solution of my failed experiments to come to me. I can definitely wait longer."

Afterward, the orb cast an image of Hookmon, who was inside Whamon.

"Hookmon rides with the DigiDestined now, does he? I shall move in to retrieve the artifact he is bringing to me now. It will serve as an alternative, and much more reliable way to strengthen my army, rather than IceDevimon's foolhardy plan."

The orb flickered before it died down, and landed softly on Dragomon's outstretched tentacle-arm. He frowned momentarily; his red eyes knitted close to each other and his mouth hanging even more hideously than it had been before.

"He has sealed the artifact from any magical infiltration. How smart of him. But I will get what I want, while keeping watch of the girl at the same time. It is only a matter of time. Perhaps I shall have to send someone to speed things up for him."

Then, his attention was grabbed by sudden movements coming from the Chill Cavern. Lifting his gaze from the non-responsive orb, he saw three Scubamon approaching him. He was at first mildly surprised, but calmed down when he realized that they were the ones working for him secretly from within the cold lairs of IceDevimon. They had been sent by Dragomon to be his eyes and ears while within the Chill Cavern, as Dragomon didn't want to miss a single bit of what IceDevimon was planning out. It was how he had discovered about Kira's abduction in the first place.

The Scubamon swam straight towards Dragomon's tentacle-feet, and bowed in reverence. Dragomon motioned them to rise as quickly as they were about to finish bowing.

"You can skip the formalities. One of you . . ." he said quickly, and beckoned to the Scubamon floating on his right. "Go back to the Chill Cavern and rally all the Scubamon. Take with you back to my lair those who are willing to return back to me. Leave those who don't. Now go!"

The right-most Scubamon bowed, and muttered its reply before he swam off hurriedly back to the Chill Cavern. As for the other two . . .

"Your task will be to go back to the Bane Buccaneer. Find the artifact I have been looking for. It seems clear to me that Hookmon will be persuaded not to work with me anymore. That is fine, as long as I have the artifact. The girl abducted by you earlier must be special to Hookmon; what else could be the reason for that bratty pirate to come all the way down here to save her? I could not care less.

"However, he is too long overdue in his delivery, although his reports of what's-on and whatnot are satisfactory to say the least. I will need the artifact soon, and with IceDevimon out of the way the timing could not be more perfect. Bring it here, and if you fail, do not bother to come back," he added dangerously. "And try not to draw any attention, if it is possible."

The two Scubamon grumbled and muttered their agreements. They then fled the area quickly, eager to get away from Dragomon.

Dragomon growled a laugh softly. After that, his expression became serious again as he grasped the orb with his tentacles firmly.

"Huanlongmon's lost Digicore _will_ be mine."

* * *

The earthquake happening on Database Island intensified greatly after the final demise of Phelesmon, and this time around it didn't stop every once in a while like it used to before. Instead, the strength of the earthquake seemed to increase in crescendo; deepening the chasms that had already formed all over the island and finally, although bizarrely so, broken apart the island into tiny pieces of lands. Some of the lands sunk deep into the ocean, while some remained floating. One piece of land, the largest one of all, that was still floating was the one holding the Zero Mountain.

Cyberdramon was soaring towards the sky, with an assortment of digimon and human hanging all over him. Max and Darien had both seated themselves on each of his broad shoulders, with their hands holding Cyberdramon's horns (much to the warrior's dismay). Jon, Kotemon, Agumon and Gabumon were held firmly by Cyberdramon against his chest, while Leomon and Ogremon were clinging on his feet. The draconic digimon made sure that all of them were securely held as he tried to find a safe place to land.

"This is terrible," Max said softly, as more small lands sunk into the waters. "At this rate, the island would be gone by daybreak!"

Darien nodded; his mouth was partially hanging as he watched the catastrophe happening beneath them. His eyes were continuously darting from one piece of land to another, as if anticipating which one of them would be next to sink into the waters. His face paled slightly against the soft moonlight hue, and Max cocked both eyebrows as a manner of asking what Darien was thinking.

"I just realized that I have a thing against height as well . . ." he said sheepishly. "Although, it's not as bad as spiders, mind you," he added with a shudder.

Max shook his head apologetically, and asked the silent digimon he was riding on. "What do you think, Cyberdramon?"

"There's nothing we can do about it," Cyberdramon said grimly. "I thought by deleting Phelesmon . . . the island would be saved too."

"That's not it," Agumon called out from below. Both boys however didn't try to look down; part of the reason was for being sky-high, while another reason was that they wouldn't want to cause Cyberdramon to lose his balance. Although it was pretty doubtful that Cyberdramon would, his body was too sturdy to be affected by the mere movements of the two boys.

"What do you mean, Agumon?" Jon asked.

Agumon made what seemed like a shrugging gesture, which would be apparent if it wasn't for the fact that Cyberdramon's strong arms were pressing him against the warrior's body. "Well, I just think that it seems apparent that Phelesmon had meant for this to happen anyway."

They continued their journey in silent, until Cyberdramon spotted a peculiar sight on the ocean. Against the dark late night sky, and the equally dark waters, was a well-lit massive black vessel with white sails and tall masts.

"Now, isn't that a sight for sore eyes?" said Kotemon happily. "It's a ship!"

"Is that . . . a _pirate_ ship?" Max asked with utmost interest. "What's it doing out here?"

"Pirates?" Jon repeated, and gulped. "That can't be good, can it?"

"It doesn't matter. At any rate, the ship is the only place I can land now," Cyberdramon grunted. "Hang on tight."

He descended down towards the strange vessel carefully, but halted instantly in mid-air when he detected movements coming from beneath the ocean, somewhere near the ship. Before he could mention it to the DigiDestined and digimon he were having on him, great splashes of water shot up from the surface of the ocean, drenching all of them wet. A dark, gigantic figure leapt out from the waters before thudding on the surface of the ocean, sending more splashes of water towards Cyberdramon and those who were riding him.

* * *

"We're back, safe and sound, on the surface of the sea of Database . . . or what has left of the island," Whamon announced, with a slight confusion. "What happened around here anyway?"

"HEY! Open up your big mouth now!" Whamon sweatdropped upon hearing a familiar yell coming from inside his mouth, and did just as he was told.

"Whoops . . . sorry about that! Out you go."

Hookmon appeared from Whamon's opened mouth, and gasped upon seeing the sight, or lack thereof, that lied before him. "Hey! Where's Database Island? Are you sure you've brought us to the right place?"

"Sure I'm sure," Whamon replied indignantly, causing Hookmon to nearly lose his balance upon the rumblings caused by Whamon's talking. Although, in all actuality, the whale wasn't actually talking, as he kind of having his mouth full at the moment, and the fact that he was leaving his mouth opened. Whamon actually had the ability to voice out his thought in forms of speaking voice. "There's your ship, right?" he inquired, and repositioned his body to face the Bane Buccaneer, which floated barely ten metres away from him.

"I think I'm gonna throw up," came a moan, which Hookmon in response, quickly jumped away.

Kira brushed past the pirate, and leaned slightly towards the edge of Whamon's tooth. Her face was considerably pale, and she indeed looked like she was going to vomit. However, it didn't happen, and everyone could practically hear Whamon sighed with relief.

"Try taking a few deep breaths. It'll help," he suggested helpfully.

"Try NOT doing that 'Free Willy' act again, would you?" Kira replied back irritably, holding one of Whamon's yellowish white teeth with a hand. "It really makes me wanna throw up. I think I'm getting sea-sick."

"Well, sorry about that. Couldn't resist it though, it's been a while since I've done that!" Whamon said brightly. "Anyway, what's with the weird references? First the boy called me Monstro, and then you mentioned about this Free Willy."

"Never mind," Kira muttered.

"It's just some of the cultural references the DigiDestined sometimes made," Wizardmon offered. "Probably something from the Human World, I think."

Kanto gave a dry laugh and nodded, not bothering to clarify as Whamon seemed to be satisfied with the explanation given.

"Somebody's approaching," Renamon said cautiously, and set her eyes out of Whamon's opened jaw. On the sky, there was a speck of light which seemed to move in great speed. Renamon could make out an unfamiliar bulky armored digimon, carrying a few familiar faces with it. To her amusement, all of them were currently soaking wet.

"It's Darien, Max and Jon!" Kira squealed happily, after looking towards the approaching figure carefully, with both eyes squinted.

"Who's THAT carrying them?" Kanto wondered.

Wizardmon and Renamon shook their heads, indicating that they had no idea of the identity of the mysterious newcomer. They turned to Hookmon and Koemon for an answer, but Koemon just shrugged, while Hookmon claimed that he'd never seen anyone like the stranger.

"He must be on our side though," Wizardmon said finally. "Why else would he be carrying the other three DigiDestined on him?"

"Maybe you can use your staff and that neat sight-beyond-sight technique to check out his identity?" Kanto suggested.

"Don't bother, because he is almost here," Renamon pointed out.

* * *

"Inside the whale's mouth . . . I can see Kira and Kanto, with their partners and two other digimon," Cyberdramon informed. While all the others could see was a giant blue whale floating near the black vessel they had spotted earlier, being a cybernetic digimon gave Cyberdramon enhanced vision and hearing, enabling him to detect the said DigiDestined.

"Kira? Where?" Darien suddenly spoke, after being mute for a while. Max snickered and pointed towards the whale's mouth. "Don't tell me the whale's had them for dinner!" he protested.

"Hey, you seem like you could use a little help with the weights! Why don't you drop a couple of your friends on my back? I promise I won't drop them!" the whale suggested cheerfully. "And I beg to differ upon your comment, young man! I'll let you know that I'm a vegetarian and I certainly don't enjoy having human or digimon as dinner!"

Darien sweatdropped and decided to abstain from replying.

Gabumon smiled upon hearing the comment. "That's just like Whamon."

"Say . . . there are more humans? What do you know; I have a couple of them inside of me. Come on in, and don't worry, I don't bite."

All three DigiDestined sweatdropped, while Cyberdramon flinched slightly.

"Cyberdramon, you can drop Ogremon and me on Whamon," Leomon called up.

Cyberdramon grunted softly in reply and did as he was requested. After that, he went to Whamon's jaw and dropped everyone inside of it. Max carefully slid down using one of Cyberdramon's arm after the ultimate digimon dropped off Jon and the three digimon he was carrying. Darien tried to do the same thing, but as he was still feeling a little bit disoriented from the flying, he accidentally slipped off from Cyberdramon's other arm and landed on his butt onto the flooded, yet smooth surface of Whamon's inner-mouth cavity. It took Darien a while to realize that he was actually sitting on Whamon's tongue.

"Ack!" he yelped, and quickly got up. However he was nearly toppled back down when someone embraced him around the waist. Looking down, his face brightened upon seeing a flock of sandy brown hair. "Kira!" he exclaimed, and scooped up the girl happily. "You're alright!"

"Uh . . . yeah, thanks to Kanto, Renamon, Wizardmon and the others," Kira replied as her brother put her back down, and motioned towards the other digimon. "That's Hookmon and Koemon. They're my new friends, and they helped out too."

Suddenly Whamon just made a sound as if he was clearing his throat.

Kira giggled. "And, not forgetting Whamon too . . . he provides the transportation."

Darien wrinkled his nose. "That explains the smell, sis. You reek of . . . what, fish?"

Kira groaned, and mumbled something about having to be inside of a fish. Kanto merely smiled upon the sight, and while Kira was still mumbling Darien looked towards him and grinned. Darien mouthed a thank-you, and Kanto nodded.

Then everyone exchanged quick introductions, and Agumon and Gabumon were introduced. Whamon were surprised to hear that Omnimon had de-digivolved back into two rookie digimon, while Hookmon couldn't believe that the famed Omnimon was now standing before him as Rookies. Then, Kira and Kanto looked up to yet another unfamiliar looking digimon.

"Who's that?"

Jon looked behind him, and grinned. "That's Cyberdramon. He's the DNA Digivolved form of Veedramon and Grizzmon." He proceeded by explaining how DNA Digivolution worked, based on how he had seen.

"Cool," both Kira and Kanto said breathlessly. They didn't quite understand it yet, but Jon promised to explain it even further when they found a place to stay.

"Which reminds me . . ." Jon said, and his expression darkened. "Database Island is no more, no thanks to Phelesmon. We've beaten him for good, but he had the final say when the island is destroyed with him."

"What do you mean destroyed?" Renamon asked incredulously. "An island cannot be destroyed, surely not within a night."

"Magical Game!" Wizardmon summoned, and raised his staff. The wooden sun staff glimmered and showed recent images of events happening while they were underwater. Flashes of the fights of the battle the three boys and the Bakemon clan had, the resurrection of Boogeymon, his transformation to Phelesmon and the earthquake all over Database Island were revealed first. Subsequently, Omnimon made his appearance and he was shown giving his power to a few digimon for them to digivolve and help out with the evacuation of all digimon from the island. The fight between Omnimon and Phelesmon was featured next, up till his de-transformation into Agumon and Gabumon. The DNA Digivolution between Veedramon and Grizzmon was shown next, and how Cyberdramon had finally beaten Phelesmon. Finally, after Phelesmon's defeat, it was revealed how the earthquake all over the island intensified, breaking apart the island into tiny pieces of lands.

"So that's what happened," Jon concluded, and wiped away a few strands of hair from his eyes. He had given a commentary while the images were shown, and now he felt a slight dryness in his throat. Everyone was practically speechless and had a disbelieving look on their faces, yet they knew that that was exactly what had happened.

"All my life . . . I have been there. The island . . . was my home," Renamon said despondently, before shaking her head. "I just can't believe that it only took Phelesmon one day to destroy it."

"What are we going to do now?" Kanto wondered.

"I have a suggestion," Hookmon began, drawing the attention of everyone. "Seeing that there's no other place for you to go, why don't all of you come aboard the Bane Buccaneer? We've got loads of space to accommodate all of you, except Whamon of course unless he devolved. Besides, I kinda promised the girl that she could use the bathroom to clean up."

Kira blushed, and the other DigiDestined quickly murmured their agreements.

"So, that's one matter settled. But where are we heading to now?" Max questioned suddenly.

"Yeah, I thought we're supposed to just beat Phelesmon, and protect the island," Darien said. "Now that the island's gone . . . what should we do? Where should we go?"

Hookmon shrugged. "I don't know yet. Actually there's a delivery I'm supposed to make . . . but oh well. I guess it can wait. I . . . I'm not so sure whether I want to do it or not anymore, after today."

Upon this comment, Kira, Renamon and the little Koemon looked somewhat happy, while the others were left in the dark. However all of them were too tired to ask, and decided to let the matter rest.

Agumon came up with an idea. "Tell you what; why don't we set sail to the nearest island from here? It should take the ship roughly a day to go there, I think. The island is secluded, and as large as the Database Island had been. They call it the File Island."

* * *

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**Author's Notes:**

To those who celebrate Christmas, a merry Christmas to you and here's a little gift from me.  It's quite a lengthy chapter. And to **Quinton Notwen **and **Sukara-Nodori**, thanks for the reviews. Enjoy the chapter.

According to **_Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia_** Veedramon CAN digivolve into Cyberdramon, although his normal digivolution line will be Aero Veedramon (ultimate) and Alforce Veedramon (mega). All digimon will be evolving in accordance of their normal evolutionary line when their time comes, but I'll be making slight modifications _should_ they Dark Digivolve or DNA Digivolve. Mega Digivolution and Warp Digivolution however will produce the same mega digimon.

While Veedramon and Grizzmon can DNA Digivolve to form a stronger ultimate digimon, I'll be retaining Dinohumon, Kyubimon and Wizardmon in their champion levels for a while, as to expand their champion form powers. Wizardmon will be improving in his spell-casting while Kyubimon is able to make a combo attack (as demonstrated in this chapter). Dinohumon's improvement will be featured later.

_Monstro_ is the name of the villainous whale in _Walt Disney's Pinocchio_, while _Free Willy_ is a 1993 film produced by (?). Both aren't mine, but I figure that both did make it to Japan and the DigiDestined had the chance to watch them prior to their adventure, hence the references.

Kanto's character profile will be brought forward to the next chapter.


	17. The Golden Digicore

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 17 – Exodus III: The Golden Digicore_**

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Faint red lights began to pierce the dark blue sky, marking the beginning of a new day for the Digital World. A dark day had passed with the demise of Phelesmon, who had ruled over the now-absent Database Island for nearly ten years, since the first arrival of the Legion of Darkness. However, accompanied by his permanent deletion, Phelesmon had also successfully marked his legacy – by being responsible for the sinking of Database Island for good, and for the mass-massacre of nearly half the population residing within it.

A soft chuckle was heard against the quiet sky. "Phelesmon . . ."

A figure in rich blue cloak was seen floating silently over the sky, clearly observing the rising sun from the horizon. This figure was humanoid, bulky in size, and clearly masculine upon primary judgment of its hidden physical stature. The cloak he was wearing covered from the top of his head until the end of his feet, except for a great pair of wings protruding from the back. His face was veiled beneath the darkness within the hood attached to the cloak. Only those with extremely sharp eyesight could make out a pair of shining blue eyes boring towards the calm ocean below, where the golden sunlight was reflected brilliantly from the clear surface of the waters. Sailing smoothly on the serene ocean was a great black vessel with white sails, gradually making its way perpendicularly from the direction where the sun rose.

However, it seemed that the shrouded figure's attention was not solely confined to the black vessel only. Rather, he appeared distracted, with his right arm was hung in midair. The arm was completely covered by the cloak he was wearing. In a matter of a mere blink of the eye, hundreds of crimson data particles were focused around the upheld arm as the figure, a digimon, began muttering a soft invocation. As the words of the digimon's incantations flowed, the data particles seemed to pulsate along as well.

"Phelesmon may have been trampled permanently, but it is such a shame to waste a very strong data. That Cyberdramon was either incredibly naïve, or downright foolish for refusing to consume it for his own," said the digimon with a swift flick of the arm.

Upon the gesture, the data particles quickly grouped together into a sphere, and the digimon extended his palm out from the flowing robe he was wearing. The palm was similar to that of a human's palm, with leather glove worn as cover. A soft blue light emitted from the palm, encasing the energy sphere with blue aura which then transformed into a transparent, pyramidal crystal. The crystal then landed smoothly on the digimon's palm.

"Nevertheless, what's wasted by that schlemiel of a digimon shall not continue to waste anymore. In my conquest of gaining power through darkness, Phelesmon's data will be perfect! The second half of the one who's not a lover to light! As shall the side of light learn very soon, by ignoring me my birthright they have unwittingly leave me with no other choice, but to embrace the darkness! The darkness, which is forever willing to grant me the power I crave for so long . . ." The digimon's despairing words trailed off as he put the crystal inside his robes.

Then, he cast a sideways look towards the sailing ship, which was already so far away its size was merely comparable to his erect thumb. Another chuckle escaped his throat.

"As for the DigiDestined, for now I'll let Dragomon have his fun. After all, they are currently in _his_ dwellings and he should be the one who should be responsible for the welcoming committee. I have other matters at hand back on the mainland. Let's see whether the famed 'Lord of the Undersea' can or cannot be a match for the legendary DigiDestined."

There was a slight tone of mockery when the digimon mentioned Dragomon's title, but he brushed it off quickly with a dismissive sigh.

"Alas, powerful as he is, Dragomon is not a part of my plan. So, annihilate him the DigiDestined shall, and I shall care no less."

He took out the pyramid-shape crystal once again, and examined it closely before putting it back inside his robe.

"Yes, Dragomon isn't needed. But once he is trounced, it will pave a way for the children to face the third demon lord. The third, who is next on my list. But I shall wait; I will not act rashly and maintain my cover among the side of light. It is not yet time for me to reveal myself.

"As for now I will return now to my domicile, and have Dragomon assigned for the annihilation of the DigiDestined. It will take a while for those children to defeat Dragomon, but once he's out of the way it will be easier for me to have what I want."

The digimon then flocked his black wings twice and soared towards the sky, gliding smoothly against the soft currents of the early morning wind while carefully avoiding the rays of sun that begun to rise from the horizon.

* * *

The Bane Buccaneer sailed smoothly across the calm surface of the sea, now miles away from the site where Database Island used to be. Beside the vessel, Whamon followed closely as if guarding the ship from any unexpected peril.

On the ship, Hookmon was careening the navigator wheel. Accompanying him were Cyberdramon, Wizardmon and Renamon, while Kotemon and the DigiDestined were still sleeping inside the cabins two floors below the upper deck. The same was true for Agumon, Gabumon and Koemon as well. The Bane Buccaneer was indeed a large ship; Hookmon was able to play host for the DigiDestined and their partners, and still had enough space for his crews.

"It's already dawn," Hookmon noted, watching the sunrise which took place far towards the seemingly endless the horizon. "Should we wake the DigiDestined? It is a breathtaking sight to behold. "

Renamon shook her head. "They have only been sleeping for two hours now. Let them rest until we reach File Island if it's possible."

"Last time I checked, they don't seem to be waking up even if Whamon's going to ram over this ship," said Wizardmon thoughtfully.

Hookmon cleared his throat and glanced nervously towards Whamon, who was oblivious to the conversation on board the ship. Then, he glared at the wizard digimon, his narrowed eyes clearly reflecting his annoyance.

"Must you really say that, Wizardmon? It's a bane for us to speak like that while on a ship."

"My apologies, Hookmon," replied Wizardmon. "I'm not aware of the rules of this ship."

"It's no rule," Hookmon snapped. "I just don't want to tempt fate."

Cyberdramon looked down towards the captain. "You seem a little bit on edge."

"Not at all," Hookmon said, a little bit too quickly. His eyes however betrayed his statements when three pairs of eyes stared into his own. "Oh all right! I'm just thinking of a possible route for us to make a safe journey. We'll soon cross the Poseidon Gate. Last time I was there, those blasted Niximon had caused the ship to be damaged a whole lot."

"Poseidon Gate?" Cyberdramon inquired. "What's that?"

"From north, to enter the oceans of Database Island one must cross the Poseidon Gate first. Black stone walls of about a hundred meter tall grow out from underwater, with only one opening in the middle. The opening is actually a cave and a deadly one if I may say so. Inside, it is pitch-dark I could hardly see anything. There the Niximon dwell, and they don't take too kindly to those who intrude their home. They are the creatures of the dark, and any who dares enter their home will be possessed by their ethereal voices and led to their doom. Many digimon have perished upon crossing the Poseidon Gate."

"I have a question," said Wizardmon. "Isn't there any alternative route to get us out from the oceans of Database Island?"

"There is, but for sailing digimon like us, and for the marine digimon as a whole, the Poseidon Gate is far safer than the other route. That is, if they could keep their mind."

"Why is that so?" Renamon inquired.

"Because, the only other route to get us up north has a deadly whirlpool, waiting for anyone who dares to foolishly attempt to cross it."

"So, you're saying that there is not a single safe way for us to go north?" Cyberdramon asked, with a soft growl.

"Usually, the marine digimon will use an underwater route beneath the Poseidon Gate to cross over," said Hookmon. "It's the safest way possible, because there aren't any Niximon underwater. They just dwell inside the cave. Whamon will have no problem, but I can't really say the same about the ship."

"But you've made it," Wizardmon pointed out. "I don't think you use the route with that deadly whirlpool, and certainly not the underwater path as well. You must have crossed the cave safely. How did you do that?"

"We barely made it out the cave," Hookmon sighed. "The strangest thing is that I don't remember much about it. I have vague recollections of the crew and I being possessed by the Niximon's songs, and almost succumbed to it. I also remember the ship knocking over the walls of the cave, and hitting some underwater stones that are way close to the water surface. And then . . . everything else is blank."

"Blank? What do you mean?" Renamon asked.

"It means that I can't recall anything happening after that. One moment, I saw the Niximon surrounding the ship, preparing to attack us. Then, another song appeared . . . but this time it was sung by a stronger voice, yet a lovely one too. After that . . . we woke up, already about half a mile away from Poseidon Gate."

"Freaky," said Wizardmon.

"Yeah. I can only assume that it was Dragomon who sent the help, as he's the one who wanted the artifact I'm carrying to be delivered at a designated meeting point, somewhere several miles ahead of Database Island. We stopped by the island as to tend the damages suffered by the ship."

Renamon nodded, remembering her first encounters with Hookmon the day before. Cyberdramon and Wizardmon were silent, and looked out towards the horizon. By the looks of it, they were trying to see whether they could see the gate or not.

"You'll never see the gate now," Hookmon chided. "My guess is that we'll be able to catch a glimpse of it in about an hour time, and arrive there before noon. I have a plan now, and it is vital if you listen to what I have to say."

The three destined digimon nodded. "Fire away," said Wizardmon.

"I think it would be best if all of you to take your human partners and seek refuge inside of Whamon. I also want my crew to get into the whale. Whamon can easily use the underwater path to safely cross the gate. Cyberdramon and Wizardmon have another choice of flying over the gate, which is an equally good method of crossing."

"And what about you?" Renamon asked. "Are you coming as well?"

Hookmon glanced over towards the Koemon crew, who were busy scrapping the floors and tidying the sails of the ship. Then, he looked around the ship, and sighed.

"No," he said finally. "I will use the cave to cross over the gate."

"What? Do you really think we'd leave you all alone to become prey of these Niximon you're telling us?" Wizardmon asked.

"No way," Renamon said instantly. "You are coming with us too."

"No, I'll stay with _my_ ship. I can't leave her."

"If you're not going, then we're not leaving you here alone too. Knowing the DigiDestined, they aren't going to go inside Whamon again if it's mean leaving you on your own here," said Wizardmon. "Not to mention, when they already had their bath."

"And do not forget your crew as well," Renamon reminded. "They will not going to abandon this ship, out of loyalty to you."

"We'll all stay, then," Cyberdramon decided, and flexed his claws. "And we'll make sure that these Niximon will not disrupt our journey to File Island."

"It's not your responsibility, and as the captain I cannot allow you to risk your lives," Hookmon said with a defeated tone, but then he smiled too. "But I appreciate it. I don't know whether we have the chance . . . but I guess there's no telling all of you to back off now, is there?"

"Nope," said Wizardmon. "I can use my spells to conjure out force field to protect the ship from the Niximon. We're going to need Kyubimon and Dinohumon for the fireworks, and Cyberdramon's muscles to fight off any of the resilient Niximon."

"Sounds good to me," Cyberdramon said, cracking his knuckles loudly.

Hookmon smiled. "Let's discuss this over breakfast now, shall we?"

* * *

Dragomon stood silently within the darkness of his lair; his glowing red eyes were transfixed on the horde of Scubamon that were assembling in front of him. They were the ones who had once betrayed him in favor to IceDevimon, and had helped the deceased fallen angel in his quest of dethroning Dragomon. However with the deletion of IceDevimon under the hands of the DigiDestined, many had wanted to return back to Dragomon and jumped upon the chance when the ones sent by Dragomon came to the Chill Cavern with the offer.

The lord of the undersea scowled in disgust upon thinking about that. True, they had every right of leaving him in the first place, as Dragomon was the reason of them becoming of what they were now. Dragomon could understand that, but the mere thought of them having mutinied against him before still was held by him begrudgingly. Nevertheless, he accepted them back, as he would need each Scubamon he could have to battle with the DigiDestined.

The orders had come earlier, just as soon as he returned from the Chill Cavern. Dragomon flinched slightly upon recalling his exchange with the one who had contacted him; one who went by the name Dark One. Despite being a proud digimon, Dragomon had utmost respect of the Dark One. Dark One, a digimon whose identity was unknown to any, was currently the leader of the Legion of Darkness. He had commanded Dragomon to take in what Phelesmon had failed to do, which the undersea master agreed dutifully.

Scanning thoroughly his army of Scubamon, Dragomon knew that he would need the artifact Hookmon was supposed to deliver to him to make them stronger. The golden Digicore of one of the five Harmonious Ones – the golden sovereign Huanlongmon – promised great powers to those who was able to harness it. Dragomon was surprised upon learning that Hookmon had the Digicore under his possession. However, Hookmon had gone back to his promise by not delivering it to him. Dragomon had not expected this, assuming that with a great amount of payment ready in exchange for the Digicore, Hookmon would only be too eager to get it done.

"The pirate has changed, apparently," he mused, reflecting the time when he had first encountered Hookmon.

Dragomon had met Hookmon almost three years ago. At that time, Hookmon had foolishly attempted to cross the Dark Whirlpool, an area over the sea of Triton, located several miles away from the seas of Database Island. From his lair located deep beneath the sea, Dragomon sensed a disturbance over the whirlpool area and had conjured up his viewing orb to oversee the reason. He saw a black vessel, the Bane Buccaneer, being pulled over by the strong force of the Dark Whirlpool. It wasn't in Dragomon's nature to help any of those who were in need, as he preferred to live in solitude, but somehow he didn't want to see Hookmon being pulled over into the whirlpool.

"It would be such a shame for a fine ship to be destroyed so soon," he had reasoned with himself. "Besides, this pirate digimon might be of use to me."

He saved Hookmon, and in return he demanded for the pirate digimon to comply with his wishes. Upon learning of Dragomon's origin as one of the Legion of Darkness, Hookmon had balked in fear, and boldly stated that he wanted nothing to do with the forces of evil, as he had put into words. Dragomon was amused, and told Hookmon that he had owed him with his life.

"Look, Dragomon . . ." Hookmon had attempted to reason. "I'd do anything in return, but I will not be your lackey. I'm a free mon, a free pirate, and I intend to stay that way."

"You are in no position to make any demands, pirate," Dragomon had said angrily. "You owe me; I have saved you from the dreaded Dark Whirlpool."

"Delete me then, but I'll have nothing to do with the Legion of Darkness!" Hookmon had answered bravely, which surprised Dragomon. "A pirate will never serve anyone – we are free digimon. The rest of the world might have bowed to the Legion, but for us roamers of the sea, we will not submit."

Dragomon had admired Hookmon's bold words, and decided to take an alternative method of convincing him to join his cause.

"Alright, pirate. I will not force you to serve me, but how if you work for me?"

Hookmon's interest had perked upon the suggestion. "And what's in it for me if I work for you?"

"I have gold. A lot of gold, and I am willing to pay you with them. In return I will have you do some errands for me."

Hookmon however had been skeptical, although there was undeniably a spark of interest evident in the pirate's eyes. "How do I know that you're not lying?"

"You have my word as the lord of the undersea," replied Dragomon, and produced some gold coins from his trident. He had recalled the coins from the vault of treasure inside his lair, and gave them to Hookmon. "So, do we have a deal?"

Hookmon had greedily scooped the coins with his handicapped hands and quickly said his agreement. Dragomon immediately took note of Hookmon's utmost interest in the gold coins, and immediately planned them to his advantage.

Dragomon laughed lightly upon the recollection. Payment was no object to him, as he had been able to conjure them up using one of his many talents. Unknown to Hookmon however, Dragomon had slowly turned him into a dutiful loyal servant; with the only difference was the fact that he was paid to do it. Thus, over the course of three years, Dragomon had Hookmon to deliver him news, and sometimes useful artifacts he needed for his experiments.

Several months before, Hookmon had brought him news of a titanic battle between the sovereign Huanlongmon and three of the highest ranking Legion of Darkness – the Dark One being one of them, accompanied by the demonic mercenary Astamon and the fiendish serpent demon Leviamon. They had also brought along their lackeys as well to topple the strongest Harmonious One. The outcome of the battle was unknown to Hookmon, and Dragomon wasn't told of it from any of the other Legion of Darkness. But what Hookmon did know was that during the battle, one of Huanlongmon's golden Digicores had gone missing. And so, he had Hookmon to track down the lost golden Digicore and to bring it to him.

Conjuring up the viewing orb, Dragomon observed as the two Scubamon were swimming across the sea to reach the Bane Buccaneer. Dragomon had them retrieve the golden Digicore from Hookmon back at the Chill Cavern, and he anticipated to have it by sundown.

"Should they fail, I will have to retrieve Huanlongmon's Digicore myself," he said solemnly, and dismissed the Scubamon.

* * *

After discussing their plan at the dining room, Hookmon and the other digimon were joined by the DigiDestined and the other digimon that had slept in the morning. Hookmon went over the counter and to place an order for everyone, while the DigiDestined and the digimon took their seats over the large dining room. The DigiDestined seated in one table, while the digimon gathered over another table. Cyberdramon, being large in size to fit in for the table and chairs, had earlier resorted in leaning against the wall while seating on the floor, over a large cushion provided by the chefs.

Several minutes later, a digimon came out from the kitchen and presented their orders, which were surprisingly . . . burgers! The digimon then left the table to take the drinks Hookmon had ordered for them.

"Hmm . . . this burger is good!" said Darien appreciatively as he ate the burger given to him. "It's a cheeseburger, my favorite!"

"No kidding," said Kira, while examining her food with her fork and spoon. "I can't believe that they have burgers here. Mine's tastes like a shrimp burger."

"Mine's taste like beef," Jon commented, and took a bite on his burger. "Well done, fresh off the grill."

"Glad you all like the food we've cooked, dears," said a stout digimon with a motherly voice. She had a round, cream-colored face. On her head was a large brown head, with yellow hair escaping on the front, and on the sides of the head were wing-shaped ears. Two black, beady eyes shone the exact same hospitality as the smile this digimon had given. She wore a plain purple sleeveless gown over her plump body. On her hands was a tray of five drinks.

"They're really delicious," said Kanto heartily as the digimon served the drinks to their table. "Wow, milkshakes! Thanks err . . . m'am."

"I'm called Mama Burgermon, dear," said the digimon kindly, and gestured to the counter where a similar looking digimon was there, preparing the foods for the destined digimon who were sitting on the next table. The only difference was to their attire – the digimon over the counter was wearing a white chef-like uniform with blue trimmings. "And that's Papa Burgermon. He's the main chef of this ship."

"And we're the Burgermon kids!" said two smaller version of the Burgermon couple. One of them was smaller than the other. The smaller one was cream in color, similar to the bigger Burgermon. He wore the same artist-like hat, and a napkin with orange linings. This Burgermon was clearly a male.

"I'm Chibi Burgermon, nice to meet you. This is my sister, Ebi Burgermon."

The other Burgermon, a female, was pink in color. She wore the same attire as her brother, except for her hat, which was white with pink lines with a pink ribbon attached on a side. Upon the introduction, she curtsied slightly and smiled.

"You can call us Chibi and Ebi," she offered.

"And as for the two of us, call us Papa and Mama!" Papa Burgermon shouted over the counter with a barking laugh. "Hey kids, go and take the orders from the digimon."

"Hey, Burgermon," called Hookmon. "Why don't you join us for a while? It's not everyday you get to see the DigiDestined."

Immediately, there was silence. Mama Burgermon gasped, while there was a loud clang over the kitchen as Papa Burgermon rushed out from there. Chibi and Ebi looked disbelievingly towards the DigiDestined with their mouths forming a large 'O'.

"I take it you've heard of us?" Max asked nervously.

"Heard of you?" Chibi repeated breathlessly. "More like . . . growing up hearing tales about you."

"How can that be?" Kira wondered. "We've only been here for only like, two weeks tops."

"That may be true, but the tales of the DigiDestined have always been passed on from one generation to another. Even in the times of darkness such as this, all good digimon have never lost hope in awaiting the arrival of the DigiDestined to purge our world from darkness," said Mama Burgermon.

"And right now, the famed warriors are now with us," Papa Burgermon said proudly.

"So where'd you guys come from?" Ebi asked curiously.

For the next ten minutes, the DigiDestined entertained the Burgermon's queries about their world, and of the food there. They were surprised as well to learn that burgers were famous on the Human World as well as the Digital World. The four of them then excused themselves and told them that they had to prepare some snacks for the crew. The DigiDestined were surprised, but pleased as well when they learnt that it was Hookmon himself who ordered the Burgermon to prepare five meals per day for the Koemon crew working on the ship.

"Three whole meals, with two snacks in between daily," explained Hookmon. "That'll keep the Koemon healthy and strong to work on this ship."

Kira cast a sideways glance towards Renamon and Koemon, remembering her conversation with them the night before. Koemon had said that Hookmon was a good digimon, and Kira could see what he'd meant. Not only the captain was willing to help the team to save her, he was also a caring leader to his underlings, despite his attempts to appear rough on his crew.

All of the DigiDestined and digimon then enjoyed their meals, and exchanged topics of conversation. Darien told Kira and Kanto of how he finally got Max to break the ice, prompting the DNA Digivolution of Veedramon and Grizzmon to Cyberdramon. Kira then related to everyone how she was treating the Scubamon when they thought that she was their queen. Everyone laughed, while Darien claimed that he felt sick upon hearing what IceDevimon had intended to do with Kira.

Everyone then focused their attention to Max, and the redhead knew that he still owed the other two younger DigiDestined his story, and to give Jon and Darien a better account of his story. When he was finished, Kanto and Kira's reaction were pretty much the same as Darien and Jon. Max was given a heartwarming welcome into the team once again, and this time around the boy couldn't be gladder to have friends around him. From the corner of his eyes he could make out a brief smile coming out from Cyberdramon's foreboding face.

"Hey, this reminds me of something," Max said. "Why Cyberdramon still retains his ultimate form, instead of reverting back to ToyAgumon and Bearmon?"

"I was thinking along the same line too," said Darien thoughtfully. "Is the fusion permanent?"

"It's supposed to be permanent, but here you have me and Gabumon instead of Omnimon," said Agumon.

"I think it's more likely that Cyberdramon still has a lot of energy within him, making him able to hold into his ultimate form longer," Gabumon clarified.

Both older boys looked relieved upon the statement. Chibi and Ebi then came over to collect the dirty dishes, and Mama Burgermon gave them ice cream and fruits for desert. Upon the sight of the ice creams, the DigiDestined quickly took one for each and gulped them over within seconds as they hadn't seen any ice cream ever since they were here. Their digimon partners shook their heads, and settled for the fruits.

"I don't really fancy ice creams anyway," muttered Kotemon. "It looks cold and milky, and then again, I don't really like milk too."

"You should try it, they're like chocolates," said Jon, and looked down over his empty cup. "Oops, I guess I've finished it."

"What? They're like chocolates?" Kotemon exclaimed. Even Cyberdramon's head perked up a bit, while Renamon and Wizardmon were pretending not to be interested.

"Yeah, didn't you and Bearmon love the chocolates we gave you, when we first met?" Jon asked.

Mama Burgermon laughed. "I could get some more ice creams for the kitchen. I made them myself this morning. Okay, I guess that's four more cups of ice creams for the four of you, right?"

"Make that two," Cyberdramon muttered. "There are two of us inside this body."

"I wouldn't mind tasting the ice cream," said Wizardmon quickly.

"Likewise," said Renamon.

"Do you mind if the five of us get a second helping on those delicious ice creams?" Kanto asked hopefully.

Mama Burgermon smiled. "Certainly not, dear. I'm glad that you like my homemade ice creams. Captain, would you like some ice cream too?"

Hookmon looked at his handicapped hands. "Oh . . . why not, I guess. I've never given it a chance before."

"Don't worry dear, I'll ask Chibi and Ebi to help feed you the ice cream," said Mama Burgermon.

"That won't be necessary," said Hookmon, blushing slightly. "I think I can manage."

"We want ice creams too," Agumon and Gabumon said synchronously.

Mama Burgermon laughed and proceeded to the kitchen happily, enjoying the fact that everyone liked the ice creams she'd made. She, along with Chibi and Ebi brought out the ice creams later for everyone, and convinced Hookmon to let the children Burgermon help him with the ice cream. Hookmon begrudgingly allowed Chibi and Ebi taking turns to feed him the ice cream, while glaring to everyone, as if daring them to laugh at him. However none paid any attention to him as they were enjoying their own ice creams.

Suddenly, there was a commotion happening on the upper deck. Shouts were heard from the crew upstairs, and the noises were enough to generate the attention of all DigiDestined and their digimon.

"Oh, dear. What's going on up there?" Mama Burgermon wondered worriedly.

Hookmon immediately got up. "I'll go and have a look."

"I'll follow," said Cyberdramon, following suit. "All of you, stay here."

Before Renamon, Wizardmon and Kotemon could protest, Cyberdramon and Hookmon had left the dining room. Mama Burgermon, Chibi and Ebi quickly closed the door leading out to the corridors, and sealed it by stacking up chairs over the door.

Cyberdramon and Hookmon reached the upper deck, and the captain roared in anger upon catching sight of the source of the commotion. There, on the farthest edge of the deck, were two Scubamon. They were seen trashing around the Koemon, who were all no match for them.

"Not them again!"

Cyberdramon looked down towards the captain. "You know them?"

"They are the Scubamon. Three of them had come over last night to kidnap Kira," said Hookmon. "They serve either IceDevimon, or Dragomon."

"I don't know who Dragomon is, but I thought IceDevimon has been deleted by Kyubimon?" asked Cyberdramon.

"Talk later, first we handle them!" Hookmon growled, and was about to stomp forward with his cannon rose when Cyberdramon held out an arm to stop him.

"Leave the two of them to me; you go and tend to your crew."

"Now wait a minute, just who do you think the captain of the ship is . . ." Hookmon's words trailed off when Cyberdramon zipped forward towards the Scubamon, completely ignoring what he was saying. He huffed in annoyance and went to inspect his crew, while muttering, "What an idiot!"

Like a flash of lightning, Cyberdramon immediately grabbed both Scubamon on the neck and flew on top of the highest mass. The Scubamon were shocked to be subdued so easily, and demanded to be released.

"Not until you tell me why are you here. And it had better not be to kidnap Kira again," Cyberdramon muttered dangerously into their ears.

"No, that's not it," one Scubamon admitted. "We're not here for the girl."

"Good," said Cyberdramon, and tightened his grip on them. "Then, why are you here?"

Both Scubamon flailed their feet desperately, and begged Cyberdramon to loosen his grip.

"I'll tell you," said the second Scubamon, breathing in the air deeply. "Dragomon assigned us to get the artifact which Hookmon has failed to deliver to him. We are to get the artifact and return, or never return at all should we fail."

Cyberdramon's expression darkened upon the confession. "Thank you. I'm letting you off now, but don't ever think of coming back here again. You can tell this Dragomon that if he tries to mess with us, then I will do what I've done to Phelesmon to HIM. Goodbye." He then tossed the two Scubamon with full force, sending them plummeting across the sky for a hundred meter before plopping into the waters.

He then regrouped with Hookmon, and asked him about what the Scubamon had told him. "I don't know that you're working with this Dragomon. What's this artifact you're supposed to give to him?"

Hookmon gulped, and looked over the Koemon, who were all unhurt. He ordered them to go inside in turns and ask for the healer Koemon to provide some treatments for their wound, and beckoned for Cyberdramon to follow him inside.

* * *

Cyberdramon was the first to enter the dining room, and was slightly amused to find the door blocked by the chairs. Wizardmon and Renamon immediately moved the blockade, allowing Cyberdramon to enter. Hookmon had excused himself to his private cabin earlier, saying that he had to take something over to show all of them.

When Hookmon returned, with him was a deep green box with a key slot in the middle. Hookmon placed the box on the table, and produced a key from his pocket. He motioned for Koemon to take the key and unlock the box. The box immediately sprang open, revealing a beautiful golden sphere lying on top of a velvety maroon cushion. The sphere was about the size of a small coconut, and attracted the attention of everyone, especially the DigiDestined.

"That's not a Dragonball, right?" Jon asked, pointing over to the sphere.

"Sure looks like it," said Kanto.

Kira rolled her eyes. "You two have watched too much TV. How can they have Dragonball here?"

Hookmon cleared his throat to attract everyone's attention to him. "Two Scubamon were here earlier, and they were looking for this. Behold one of Huanlongmon's golden Digicore."

The adult Burgermon, along with Agumon and Gabumon, gasped upon hearing the revelation, while the other digimon and DigiDestined remained indifferent.

"By the Sovereigns! That's Huanlongmon's Digicore? It's not possible," said Agumon.

"Excuse me, but who is Huanlongmon?" asked Kira anxiously.

"The Scubamon said that you're supposed to deliver this exalted artifact to Dragomon," reminded Cyberdramon. "Care to explain that, too?"

Hookmon motioned for everyone to sit close to him. The DigiDestined were all huddled close over the Digicore, while the digimon watched it from afar. The Burgermon family had decided to take a break once again to join the group, in hearing out what Hookmon had to say about the Digicore. He first explained his position to the ones who hadn't heard of the explanation he'd given to Kanto, Wizardmon and Renamon the night before.

"Let's just say that after meeting all of you, I really don't think that the Digicore should be given to Dragomon. Who knows what he'd do with it. He probably wants it to strengthen himself and his failed experiments – which are the Scubamon," said Hookmon darkly after clarifying about his link with Dragomon.

"Go on," said Cyberdramon, sounding suspicious but at the same time convinced.

"About the Digicore, as I've said earlier it belongs to Huanlongmon, one of the five sovereign digimon – the Harmonious Ones, guardians of the Digital World. They are hailed as the gods of the Digital World by all the digimon, and are said to be the first digimon who walk the Digital World. They are the calm blue dragon Azulongmon, of the east. Fiery Zhuqiaomon, the red phoenix, guards the south sector. Ebonwumon, the ever wise black turtle, watches over the north sector while Baihumon, the fierce white tiger, dwells on the west sector. And finally, on the central region of the Digital World is the strongest sovereign of all – the great, golden land dragon Huanlongmon."

"There's something familiar about it," stated Jon. "It's like the legend of Kyoto – the area is guarded over by the blue dragon, the red phoenix, the black turtle and the white tiger. There's nothing mentioned about a golden dragon though."

"I'm not familiar with the legends of your home world, but here there are five of them," said Hookmon. He proceeded by telling them the battle taking place several months ago between Huanlongmon and the three members of the Legion of Darkness, and about the Digicore which was lost during the battle.

"And now Dragomon wants it," he finished. "He's a Legion as well; his intention can never be good."

"So what do you reckon we do with the Digicore?" asked Darien.

Agumon quickly answered the question in Darien's behalf. "We should return it to Huanlongmon. With the loss of his Digicore Huanlongmon would be weaken and more vulnerable to attack."

"And how do you propose we do that?" inquired Hookmon.

"We know where the Harmonious Ones dwell," Gabumon said quietly. "Though they are assigned their own sectors to protect, there's a place deep within the eastern central region where they would gather in secret. In all actuality, the sovereigns would still be in their designated places, but at the place I've mentioned earlier, their holograms would be projected over to enable them conferencing with each other, while still keeping their area safe."

"Okay, let me get this straight," said Darien. "Dragomon's a Legion of Darkness, right? And Hookmon's mentioned about three Legions attacking Huanlongmon three months earlier, right? Just how many Legions are there?"

"Ten," said Agumon. "There are ten of them. You've defeated one, meaning that there are nine more of them to go."

"Oh man!" Darien moaned. "Home still seems so far away."

"I'm sorry," said Gabumon. "We could search for a way for you guys to make it back home."

Darien seemed to be considering it, and then he let out a cocky smile. "Nah! Don't think so. I'm not just gonna go home with an unfinished business."

"So, how can we return the Digicore to Huanlongmon?" asked Renamon.

"I don't know yet. Firstly, we still have to deal with Dragomon. He'd want the Digicore, and would do anything to get his tentacles of a hand on it," Hookmon answered.

"Tentacles of a hand? Now that's a weird metaphor," commented Jon.

"Wait till you see Dragomon himself; see if you can come up with a better description," said Hookmon.

"I got it! Why don't you let us DigiDestined to be the one who'll give the Digicore back to Huanlongmon?" asked Kanto.

Hookmon was taken aback by the request. "Now that's a thought . . . but first we have to arrive safely on File Island first. Which reminds me, we're about to reach Poseidon Gate in three hours. If we can cross the gate safely, then we'll have this discussion again."

"What's Poseidon Gate?" asked Max.

Hookmon beckoned everyone towards the door. "Come on up. I think we can see the gate from afar."

Everyone, sans the Burgermon family, went upstairs to follow Hookmon. The pirate captain motioned for them with his cannon-hand towards a direction. True enough, everyone could see a line of sturdy, grayish black stone walls across the horizon. The sea waters were seen splashing against the walls. The walls cast a shadow over the waters, covering it from the sunlight, resulting in a shadowy area near the gates. It gave everyone the creeps and a foreboding feeling just upon a mere sight of the gate.

"Three more hours," Hookmon said grimly. "It's best if we get ready now."

* * *

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**Author's Note:**

Happy New Year 2005 everyone! I'm glad that I've managed to get this chapter ready prior to the turning of a new year. I'm supposed to update Vengeance first, but I couldn't resist writing this chapter, and the next chapter, and the one after the next. I think I'll have to finish writing the Exodus arc first before concentrating back on Vengeance.

Anyway, thanks to **_Roby Murphy_** and **_Hahn_** for reviewing. Rob, thanks for the idea but I'm more of wanting to keep Kira as the only girl of the team. Hahn, that's the end of Boogeymon I'm afraid. This chapter proves it. But I can't say the same about Impmon.

_Dragonball_ is a property of Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation.

The Niximon belong to me, and **_DigiScanner-Shonnen_**. They are actually mentioned before as the Sirenmon, but DSS has recommended another interesting, more original name for the original digimon, and also has provided me with the descriptions and the mythological creature in which the Niximon are based upon. Please don't steal this character without my permission. Details about the Niximon will be provided in the next chapter.

Chibi Burgermon is actually a Burgermon, but to make him a sibling for Ebi Burgermon (she does exist) I've decided to name him Chibi. Chibi and Ebi; does kind of having a nice ring to it, don't you think? The same goes for Mama and Papa Burgermon; they are Burgermon in champion form.

And now, as I've promised – Kanto's character profile. It's been long overdue.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**:: SPECIAL PRESENTATION: CHARACTER PROFILE ::**

**Name:** Kanto Shigumi

**Age:** 10, turning 11

**Hair:** Strawberry blonde / orange, shaggy (like TK's hair)

**Eyes:** Violet and shaped like Ken's eyes

**Body type:** Tall, lean, a shade darker than Jon, Kira or Max, but lighter than Darien

**General Appearance: **Mould based on a mixture of Ken and TK

**Clothes Description:** Long-sleeved light green T-shirt over a dark green vest, a pair of cream-colored, knee-length shorts, and a white Gilligan hat.

**Partner Digimon:** Demidevimon and Impmon  Wizardmon

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**


	18. Entering Poseidon Gate

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 18 – Entering Poseidon Gate_**

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It didn't take long before the Bane Buccaneer finally reached the Poseidon Gate. Strong waves coming from within the opening of the grotto, which pulled the grand ship even closer and closer to the entrance. Just the sight of the cave's opening would send chills down the spines of anyone who set their eyes upon it – it was eerily shaped like a maw with rows of jagged upper teeth. Whamon had already dove deep underwater, as he was told to use the underwater passageway to cross Poseidon Gate, and wasn't told about the situation that would happen inside the cavern of the gate. Thus, he was the only one who was spared from the sight.

"That cave gives me the creeps," declared Kira with a shudder.

"Hang on to something!" Hookmon cried. "Crew, Digimon, DigiDestined . . . stay focused. The Niximon's songs won't affect you if you keep a clear head. Close your ears if you have to, until you can't hear a single thing. Perhaps that is the best way. Now crew, I think all of you should be running down now. Go on, move! Scat!"

The Koemon crew obeyed the order by moving down the lower deck, leaving their captain with the company of the DigiDestined and their Digimon partners. Even Agumon, Gabumon and the Koemon they have befriended decided not to join them – saying that they would rather remain in the dining room with the Burgermon family.

Hookmon pulled down his large black hat, covering his ears and the upper half of his head. With his eyes covered as well, Hookmon's face was no longer visible, because the lower half of his head was already covered by the high collars of his navy coat.

"This is ridiculous, Hookmon," commented Renamon, with her arms on her hips. "_You_ look ridiculous."

Hookmon stuck his hat up and glared towards Renamon. "Well, ha ha, but I know what I'm facing... and you don't."

Cyberdramon scoffed loudly. "Surely Wizardmon can generate a shield to protect all of us."

Wizardmon grinned. "Like you even have to ask."

With a wave of his wooden sun staff, Wizardmon created a faint barrier made out of blue lights glimmered around the surfaces of the ship. The masts, the sails, the pirate flag and the whole structure of the vessel – all of them shone with soft azure hue. A barrier seemed to form from the walls up towards the tip of the highest mast in a shape of a narrow dome. All humans and Digimon were now protected inside the barrier, and were delighted.

However, Hookmon was still frowning, obviously still worrying. "Can the shield protect us from the songs, then? The Niximon might not be able to penetrate the barrier, but what of their voices? That alone should be enough to enchant all of us to our doom. Listen to that... that's the sounds of the waves I'm hearing right now. The shield doesn't block the sounds."

Wizardmon shrugged. "It's the best I can do. I'm still quite a novice in spell-casting."

Cyberdramon cracked his knuckles. "You worry too much, Hookmon. Maybe I should scout ahead and clear our path. That ought to clear _your_ mind."

"Maybe you should tell us about the Niximon first, before Cyberdramon goes to battle them," said Max.

Hookmon nodded. "Alright. The Niximon are champion level, data type digimon. They are water sprites, easily recognized with their long beautiful hair with deep blue eyes. Their Ghastly Symphonies are musical, but hold hypnotizing effects when heard by those who dare cross their path. If that's not bad enough wait till they use their destructive Sonic Shrieks; that ought to split up even the hardest mountains."

All the DigiDestined and their partners stared at Hookmon, mystified by the explanation.

"They really sound like bad news to me," Darien muttered.

"You're exaggerating, aren't you?" asked Kanto disbelievingly.

"Surely you jest," Renamon scoffed. Hookmon looked miffed upon this and was about to snap, when one DigiDestined decided to back him up.

"On the contrary, I believe Hookmon," said Jon, drawing the attentions of everyone to him. Sheepishly, he smiled, and continued. "I've read about the nixies back home. Like Hookmon said, they are water sprites pretty much similar to the more famous mermaids. Nixies are known for their ability to entice sailors with their songs. They will make the sailors jump into the water and follow them to the bottom. Of course, this can only mean that the sailors would probably end up drowning."

"Exactly!" Hookmon said, surprised. "The descriptions are dead-on! Well explained, boy! Do these nixies exist in your world?"

"I really don't think so," answered Jon. "They are more like mystical creatures of the legends."

Darien scratched his head in confusion. "How do you know all these, Jon?"

"Well... there's that time when Kira was interested with the kitsune and asked me to help her find some information about it at the public library uptown. I came across the book about mythical and legendary creatures... and while Kira took a shine on Japanese legendary creatures I spent the time looking up some of the whole world's worth of creatures. You can't believe just how many of them exist in the worlds of legend. It's fascinating."

"You and your books..." said Darien, grinning while ruffling the younger boy's well-kept blonde hair. "That's nice, but I'm not much of a book person. I wouldn't know."

Everyone laughed by the display, but Hookmon was dismayed that everyone didn't take the Niximon seriously.

"In my opinion, the Niximon are as dangerous as the creatures the boy has explained just now," he said gruffly. All the laughter immediately died down.

"Alright then. Cyberdramon?" said Max, calling for the mechanical dragon warrior's attention.

"Understood." Without being issued of any command, the warrior quickly flew up and zoomed towards the darkened cavern, which was only within ten miles from the ship. Max and Darien were puzzled by the immediateness of their fused digimon's reaction, but shrugged it off quickly. Everyone waited with anticipation, and after five minutes Cyberdramon returned unscathed.

"There's nobody inside the cave," he stated. "It should be safe for us and the ship to cross now. I don't know why Hookmon's making such a big fuss."

Hookmon grunted, while Wizardmon was preparing to lower down the shield he had generated earlier, to Hookmon's dismay.

"What are you doing? Keep the shield up!" he snapped, to the young wizard's puzzlement.

"Why? Cyberdramon's already gone through the gate and said so himself: There's nobody there. I don't see why I should..."

"I reiterate: There's no one there. I've even scanned the cave's surroundings using my sensors, and those Niximon you've told us about are not within the parameters of the sensors, which is just about good enough for us to cross," said Cyberdramon.

Hookmon remained unconvinced. "Just... trust me on this one, alright? They're water sprites; surely they can hide themselves well underwater? I'm not taking any chances. Last time, even the ship's radar didn't produce a reading on the Niximon. They just appeared all of a sudden, and nearly have disposed us if it weren't for that other mysterious voice which saved us from the sprites. Wizardmon, please keep the shield intact. They might serve no purpose for blocking out the sounds, but at least it prevents the Niximon from coming into the ship."

Everyone now saw how desperate Hookmon was in order to make them believe his story.

"Well, alright, if you say so. But the shield's taking up pretty much of my power out," said Wizardmon, and asserted more power on the shield.

Hookmon didn't reply, and everyone braced themselves as the Bane Buccaneer entered Poseidon Gate. Inside, everything was dark with only a faint source of light coming from the cavern's other end. Judging from the distance, Hookmon informed the DigiDestined that the distance between the two doors could be about a half of mile stretch.

"Activate lights!"

Using the faint blue lights glimmering from the ship, everyone surveyed the surroundings of the cave. Their vision were greatly aided when yellow lights shone out from the masts – apparently there were lamps built inside those masts and they shone through the small orifices made on the masts.

The insides of the Poseidon Gate were indeed spacious enough to fit in just one ship heading a single way. Dark walls bordered the cave, and stones jutted out at the corners from the forceful waves below. It took Hookmon a great deal of expertise to navigate the ship around the stones to avoid collision from the stones and walls.

While all DigiDestined and Digimon took Hookmon's advice to close their ears, none could stop themselves from admiring a soft song that was coming out of nowhere all of a sudden. It sounded like a vocalization coming from a sweet, melodious voice, which was soon joined by more voices which were equally enchanting. However, unbeknownst to the DigiDestined this was exactly what Hookmon would say as...

"It's the Niximon! Don't fall prey!"

All of them watched as the waters rippled, and three spirit-like creatures with large, deep blue eyes emerged. Beautiful with long hair, their bodies naked and transparent, and the lower half of their bodies covered by swirls of water, they looked like ghostly women who had rose from the dead to haunt the living. They were indeed the Niximon, and it was apparent that they weren't pleased with the intrusion.

"Come with us..." they sang, their voices otherworldly and whispery and their hands beckoning for the occupants of the ship to join them. "Join us!"

Hookmon blinked. Strangely the song didn't produce the expected effect to him. For a while he marveled upon the fact that perhaps Wizardmon's shield had indeed worked.

"What the... their songs aren't controlling my mind!"

"Hookmon! Help!"

His attention was drawn to where Kira and Renamon were at. The two of them also seemed to be unaffected by the songs, but their faces looked horrified. Following their gazes, Hookmon gasped when he saw the remaining four male DigiDestined, along with their partner Digimon, were walking in a trance-like motion towards the ramparts of the ship. One exception was Cyberdramon, as he seemed to be struggling to resist the song while walking at the same time. Wizardmon seemed to be resisting the song as well, judging from the excruciated look of his face. He was waving his staff frantically, and suddenly the barrier around the ship vanished.

However the DigiDestined, sans Kira, had zombie-like expressions on their faces. Their pupils were dilated, and their mouths were left half opened as they approached the walled end of the deck. The same could also be said about Kotemon; although his face was hidden beneath the mask he was wearing.

"Climb... jump... join us..." the Niximon beckoned, with evil smirks on their faces. "Into the water..."

And it looked like the DigiDestined and Kotemon were about to obey the Niximon willingly.

"No!!" Kira cried. "Renamon, do something!"

The vulpine darted forward and immediately restrained Max and Darien by grabbing on their shoulders forcefully. Kira joined her partner by placing herself in front of Jon and Kanto, and tried to push them back to the center of the deck. To the duo's surprises the possessed younger boys retaliated by brushing Kira off them, sending the smaller girl sprawling down the deck, hitting a Koemon crew in the process of falling. Luckily, the Koemon acted as a buffer to prevent Kira from experiencing the full force of the push. But that didn't mean that Kira wasn't left without any painful experience at all.

"Oops... sorry about that, Koemon," she apologized, getting up quickly while groaning in pain. The pain seemed to be coming from her right arm, but Kira decided to ignore it for a while to help the Koemon who had saved her from receiving the full impact of the blow. She extended her hand to help the Koemon up, and recognized him as one of the crew, but not the same Koemon she had met up earlier, judging from the white scarf it was wearing. This Koemon was one of the sailors.

"Nothing to it, miss," the Koemon replied politely, accepting Kira's hand. His reply surprised Kira.

"You're still... you? I mean, you're not affected like my brother and friends?"

The Koemon shook his head while rubbing his back slowly. "Yeah, I'm still me, which is strange. I know I should stay down as the captain said, but I've forgotten to double check the knots I've tied earlier and I thought I could run up to make a quick inspection. Hey... you're not possessed too, now that I think of it. Why's that?"

Kira shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine, Koemon."

In the meantime, Kotemon jumped and attacked Renamon with his kendo stick, hitting her paws. Renamon involuntarily released her grasps, which sent Max and Darien tumbling forward, hitting Jon and Kanto in the process. The four boys were sprawled on the ground, but Renamon had a bigger problem on her paws. Right now, she was facing an angry Kotemon... as well as the much stronger Wizardmon and Cyberdramon! Apparently they have also fallen under the effect of the songs, and were now ganging up against the kitsune.

"This does not look good," Renamon gulped as they advanced on her.

The Niximon were gleeful, as they floated from the surface of the waters. Flying around the masts of the ship, they sprayed water all over the deck while laughing hysterically.

"Attack the fox... Attack the girl..." they goaded the three possessed Digimon with their sing-song voices. "Finish them off..."

Hookmon ran towards where Renamon was, and stood back to back with the biped fox. However his attention was fixed to the Niximon, who were now hanging over the masts. Aiming his cannon towards one of the sprites, he was about to send away the cannonball when he saw that Kira was with a normal-looking Koemon. Realizing that his crew was also unaffected, he quickly issued the order for the other Koemon to come up the deck to assist Renamon with the influenced Kotemon, Wizardmon and Cyberdramon.

As the Koemon ran off to the lower deck, Kira took out her Digivice, seeing that her partner won't be able to resist the other three Digimon while in her rookie stage. In her champion form, she might be able to hold them off.

"Renamon!" she called, and raised her Digivice, which immediately flared with yellow lights.

"**Renamon, Digivolve to... Kyubimon!"**

Turning into her quadruped champion form, Kyubimon launched herself towards her friends, and head-butted Wizardmon on the chest while lashing her nine tails to brush Kotemon aside. However Cyberdramon proved to be a bigger challenge for Kyubimon to restrain.

"Desolation Claw!"

The metallic armored digimon tried to launch his claws toward Kyubimon, but with expert skills Kyubimon glided away to safety. However she was shocked to see that her friend was attempting to take away her life while his mind was being possessed by the Niximon.

There were noises coming, and nearly a dozen of Koemon turned up from the stairs connecting the upper and lower decks. All of them had their slings ready, and recognizing the fox as being in danger they quickly fired off energy projectiles in a manner of one's doing a sling shot. The energy projectiles all slammed against Cyberdramon, but he simply shrugged it off as they bounced from his armored body harmlessly.

Kyubimon knew that there was nothing she could do but to make sure that Cyberdramon was knocked down unconscious, in order to save the Koemon. She had no choice but to retaliate.

"Dragon Wheel!"

Launching herself in form of a fiery blue dragon specter, Kyubimon rammed against Cyberdramon and successfully knocked him off his footings. The two of them sailed across the other end of the deck, and Cyberdramon crashed over one of the masts. The mast cracked slightly upon the collision, but remained sturdy while Cyberdramon's armor sported a burnt mark. To Kyubimon's dismay, he was still standing and was ready to attack back.

That was before his body began to glow with white lights, and shrunk into two separate motes of light. When the lights were gone, Cyberdramon was nowhere in sight, and was replaced by an unconscious Koromon and Tsunomon.

"That was lucky," Kyubimon breathed in relief, but found herself suddenly being lifted by two overzealous Niximon.

"Into the water... into the water," they sang.

"Captain Cannon!" Out of the blue, a cannonball went straight through a Niximon, deleting her instantly.

The other Niximon shrieked and unhanded Kyubimon instantly. The fox saw that Hookmon was responsible for the attack, and was glad for the timely assistance, showing it with a grateful nod while still sailing on the air. Quickly shifting her gaze to the Niximon holding her, she enveloped herself with blue flames and launched the Dragon Wheel towards the other Niximon. The unsuspecting sprite found herself burnt by the fires of Kyubimon, and combusted into data particles as Kyubimon landed on the deck.

The remaining Niximon saw what happened to her friends, and shrieked out a sorrowful song which echoed all over the cavern. Kira closed her ears tightly to block out the high-pitched voice of the sole Niximon, while Kyubimon and Hookmon both looked like they were jolted by it. Kyubimon's golden furs all stood on its ends, while Hookmon stumbled onto the slippery floor. The possessed Wizardmon and Kotemon seemed to be unaffected as they launched an assault against the Koemon.

Then, more Niximon emerged from the surface of the dark waters. There were now a dozen of Niximon, and all of them were sailing around the ship, spraying waters onto the deck and its occupants. Some were singing, some were screaming... it was pandemonium all over. Everyone was wet, and they were outnumbered by the sudden arrival of the Niximon.

Kira found herself being harassed by three Niximon. One of them had taken her hat, while another Niximon kept on spraying her with water as a third Niximon was pulling her hair. The girl shouted in pain while trying to swat away the Niximon.

"Let me go!" she cried, but was silenced by a spray of water on her face. The Niximon laughed at her predicament and continued their harassment on her.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" Nine fireballs sailed through the three laughing Niximon, evaporating the water spirits in a mere blink of the eye.

"Kyubimon... thank you," said Kira, wiping her face with her soaked sleeve. Kyubimon noticed that she was crying as well, despite the wetness of her face.

"Stay close, Kira," she merely said before reverting attention back to the other Niximon who were still around.

Hookmon found himself being carried by two hysterical Niximon, while another two continued to spray water on his face. One Niximon seemed to be trying to possess him by singing a woeful song, but Hookmon remained sane and yanked his hooked hand out from the Niximon, and lashed out the golden hook on her face. Screaming in agony, she was deleted while the other Niximon became extremely furious, and shrieked their Sonic Shrieks onto Hookmon's face, rendering him dizzy and nearly broken his eardrums.

Four Niximon surrounded the pile of unconscious DigiDestined and began carrying each of them away from the ship. Kira's eyes widened in horror as the Niximon were about to throw them overboard.

"No!" she shouted, as her friends were thrown into the waters. Tears flowed down her cheek furiously, and Kyubimon quickly launched herself forward in an attempt to try saving the DigiDestined, but the Niximon shrieked out their Sonic Shrieks towards the kitsune. Losing her balance, Kyubimon sprawled onto the slippery floor and knocked her head onto a mast.

Suddenly, another ethereal voice echoed all over the cavern. This time, the voice sounded stronger, yet more beautiful than those of the Niximon's. The Niximon all became silent in a sudden, while Hookmon's head snapped up.

"I recognize this voice. It's... _her_."

The effect the Niximon had on Wizardmon and Kotemon seemed to vanish instantly upon the appearance of the strong female voice. They shook their heads in bewilderment, not knowing what had happened to them earlier. They became even more confused when they saw the aftermath of the commotion around them. Kira was crying while Kyubimon was semi-conscious, sprawled near a mast. Hookmon was suspended in mid-air, being held by a Niximon, with two other Niximon surrounding him.

"What happened to us?" Wizardmon wondered.

"Beats me. The last thing I remember is hearing some voices..." Kotemon's words trailed off upon hearing a new voice echoing all over the cave.

Four cyclones of water emerged from the waters, being controlled by an unseen force. The cyclones descended onto the deck and revealed the boys, all of them unconscious. They were landed slowly onto the ground, and upon touching the floor the four of them instantly coughed out water.

"Guys! You're safe!" Kira cried happily, and went on to hug her brother, who was just about to raise himself up.

"Woah... easy there, Kira," said Darien weakly, but managed to let out a grin as he pulled his sister closer.

Max, Jon and Kanto all rose slowly from the floor, their faces reflected their puzzlement as well. All of them fixed their attention on Kira.

"Kira, did you just cry?" Kanto asked, pointing toward Kira's tear-stained cheeks. Despite being wet herself, the stains were pretty evident, especially when the ship was illuminated with yellow lights coming from the lamps built within the masts.

"And what happened to your arm?" Jon asked, pointing towards Kira's right arm. Puzzled, Kira inspected her arm, which she had ignored earlier, and saw a bluish bruise mark on it. She realized that the mark must have been inflicted on her when she was thrown by Jon and Kanto all the way across the deck.

A flash sparked within her eyes as she released herself from her brother's embrace. Glaring towards the two boys, without warning she slapped both Jon and Kanto before standing up. Turning around, she then walked away resolutely towards Kyubimon.

Both boys stared in confusion, and rubbed their cheeks.

"What was that for?" they called out, sounding perplexed and slightly angry at the same time.

Kira turned around, and bore her teary eyes towards the two boys. "That was for throwing ME all the way across the deck!" she seethed and pointed towards the end of the deck where she was thrown earlier before resuming walking off to inspect her partner's condition. She paused and turned around once more, but this time she addressed the two older boys normally. "Darien, Max... Cyberdramon has de-digivolved all the way to Tsunomon and Koromon over there. Maybe you should check them out." Then she walked away.

"Huh?" Jon and Kanto said at the same time, sounding more befuddled than ever, but their anger instantly dissipated upon the bitter explanation.

"I don't know we could even do that," Kanto said, sounding bummed.

"Throw her across the deck?" Darien repeated disbelievingly. "You two...?"

"WE DIDN'T KNOW!!"

Max merely shrugged. "I'm just glad it's not me who threw her all the way... over there," he said, pointing towards the end of the deck. He sweatdropped in confusion, seeing just how far Kira had indicated she was thrown by Jon and Kanto. "That's pretty far... no wonder she's mad at you two."

Darien still was gaping over the fact that his sister was thrown by the two boys, but Max quickly pulled Darien up and pushed him towards the direction where their Digimon partners were, both unconscious near the center mast. Jon and Kanto looked at each other, both of their right cheeks sported a faint red mark where they were slapped.

"I guess we owe her an apology," Jon said finally.

"Yeah, we better..." Kanto responded with a slight grumble. "But it's not like we want to do that to her in the first place."

"We'll talk to her about that later."

Suddenly a gust of cold, wet wind appeared from beneath the surface of the water. A bigger cyclone of spiraling water emerged, and went all the way towards the deck of the ship. Everyone saw a vague impression of womanly figure inside the cyclone, and she was vocalizing a soulful tone of song which surpassed the Niximon's melodies. The impression became clearer, and everyone saw that it was indeed a woman, dressed in black pirate hat with long braided blonde hair. Her face was beautiful, in a rough kind of way, and she was holding a golden anchor on her right hand. However what made this womanly figure different from any other woman was the fact that she had no legs at all. Under her waist was a black, long, shiny fish-like tail.

She was a mermaid.

And she had stopped singing in favor of aiming her gold anchor towards a group of four Niximon which hovered close to her. While her rough beauty was pretty enamoring, the frown she had now on her face made her looked dangerous as well.

"Be gone; foul Niximon, to the depths of the sea where you belong! Northern Cross Bomber!" the mermaid shouted, and aimed her anchor. She then launched grenades of pressurized water in four directions, towards the remaining eight Niximon. Four out of eight Niximon were wiped out with a single blow of her aqua grenades.

"A mermaid..." Kira said in awe as she went up to Kyubimon, who then regressed back into her rookie form. "It's just like in the story, but with a slightly different twist. Nevertheless she is still the one who saves the day."

"Tell me about it when we get out of this cave," Renamon muttered as she staggered to stand up, supported by her smaller human partner.

The other remaining two Niximon didn't take too kindly to the mermaid's deed towards their kind, and after evading her attacks they teamed up to attack her with their shrieks and songs. However this proved useless, as the mermaid Digimon didn't even look like she was bothered with the assaults. Instead, she began vocalizing again, filling the cave with echoes of her strong, sweet voice. It was captivating, but not possessive in the manner as the Niximon's songs did to the DigiDestined and their Digimon.

The mermaid Digimon put down her anchor and winked towards the Niximon in order to spite them. She then crossed her hands in front of her body, and let out an orange flash of light from her hands. Winking at the Niximon, she pointed an arm towards one of them and a burst of orange light shot out.

"Sonic Shrieks!" the two Niximon cried out in frustration, already losing their melodious tune.

"Charm Plunder!" she cried amidst the song she was vocalizing, and a wave of orange light coupled with her echoing voice engulfed the two Niximon. Their shrieks turning into cries of pure terror, both of them were sent to oblivion as the waves dissipated.

Hookmon stared at the mermaid stranger in awe. "Amazing! I wonder who she is."

As the mermaid began to descend down onto the floor, her long black tail began to glimmer in orange light before turning into a pair of lithe, long legs covered with black leather pants and black high-heeled boots. Her new ensemble now made her look like a lady pirate.

"Greetings, fair crew of this grand ship; I'm pleased to meet all of you," she said, taking off her hat and bowed towards Hookmon.

"No... It is I, it's US who are pleased to meet you...milady," said Hookmon, while scurrying over to greet the lady Digimon. He took her hand with his hooked arm and kissed the back part of her palm. "May I ask for your name, kind lady?"

The lady Digimon smiled, feeling absolutely flattered with Hookmon's respect for her. "I am Mermaidmon, an ultimate level, data type Digimon. I scour the entire oceans of the Digital World, bound to help those who are in need. I wield my Northern Cross Bomber and Charm Plunder with the fluidity and grace of the water to combat my enemies."

"I must say... I haven't had the chance to thank you yet, for saving this ship a few days back," said Hookmon. "And I really want to express my gratitude for coming to our aid once more this day."

"You are welcome. Say... who are these humans? I don't think that I have seen them before."

"Lady... meet the DigiDestined, and their partner Digimon."

"Oh tish-tosh, don't call me lady. I'm not that; Mermaidmon will do just fine," said Mermaidmon, brushing off the reverence with mild amusement. Her blue eyes then set sight on the DigiDestined, and grew wider with pleasant surprise. "So these are the legendary heroes destined to save our world?"

And so, Mermaidmon got herself acquainted with all the DigiDestined, their partners and finally to the whole crew of the ship. Hookmon invited her to stay over as long as she wanted, but Mermaidmon, while accepting the offer, had other things in mind. She had an important news to tell, but first she implored that all of them to have themselves cleaned up, as not to make them sick while still sailing over the sea.

* * *

From beneath the depths of the sea, Dragomon was perturbed. He had expected that the DigiDestined would meet their doom while venturing into the lairs of the Niximon, but as of recent the viewing sphere was showing the Bane Buccaneer moving out from Poseidon Gate. It would have made his task a lot easier if they were taken care of there and then, but Dragomon realized that he might have to make some effort after all.

They were, after all, a force to be reckoned with. But Dragomon wasn't intimidated at all.

In fact, he took it as a challenge. As the undersea master nobody had ever challenged his authority... because he wasn't the highest ranking member of the Legion of Darkness. In fact, he had been the second to last, with Phelesmon being last. He was deemed too unimportant to take care of the vast land region, but was powerful enough to be given the responsibility to handle the seas.

However that wasn't enough for Dragomon. He didn't want to just be the ruler of the seas... he wanted to claim the oceans! But Leviamon had already taken care of that, and _he_ was a second in rank.

Dragomon wanted to rise in the rank of the hierarchy of the Legion. In order to do that, first he needed to strengthen his army, and to Digivolve into his mega form. And in order to make that possible, he would need Huanlongmon's missing Digicore.

With Phelesmon gone, he was now the last ranking member of the hierarchy.

He didn't like the sound of that. Anything was better than being the last ranking.

He would show the Dark One. He would take care of the DigiDestined, while at the same time regaining the Digicore. This way he would be able to power up both his defected armies and himself... and perhaps the Dark One would grant him the chance to rise in the ranks.

One step at a time, Dragomon mused. First thing's first, how is he going to take care of the DigiDestined?

Dragomon realized that he would have to use his own power to momentarily power up his already-defected servants Scubamon. Until he had obtained the Digicore, there was no other way. If he wanted to claim the rank as quickly as he had intended... then he would have to take some drastic measures. Of course, this had a setback. He would be weakening if he used his own power to make his servants stronger.

It wouldn't matter. Once he'd gotten the Digicore, his power would be replenished.

Thus, he summoned five Scubamon to come before him. Those Scubamon had already lost their Divermon-like forms, and were currently in their darkened, humanoid form. After briefing his plan, Dragomon summoned his power and charged up his trident. Then he aimed the trident towards the five servants of his, charging them with the power they needed to do the task set for them.

The power merged them into two Digimon. If alone, the Scubamon was as strong as any rookie Digimon could be, but by merging them together not only Dragomon would avoid using up all his power, but the Digimon resulting from the merging would be a formidable one, regardless of its level.

From the slaves, Dragomon had created two Digimon. One of them was a giant white squid-like Digimon called Gesomon, and the other a blue shark called Tylomon. For now, they would have to do. Regardless of their original level, these two Digimon had the powers closing in to ultimate level.

And it wouldn't hurt to add in a little power of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes towards the two Digimon. Perhaps it would teach Hookmon's a lesson when his whole crew was infected. Hookmon should know better than to turn his back against Dragomon in favor of the DigiDestined.

Dragomon chuckled silently. It was just his luck that the Koemon were all virus types – making them more susceptible to the curse.

The DigiDestined would have their day fully occupied. Dragomon was sure that his minions would be able to perform the task perfectly, and sent them off.

And now, he would wait.

* * *

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**Author's Note:**

A relatively short chapter, but it serves its purpose to introduce the Niximon and Mermaidmon. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming!

**_Hahn_** – Yup, the plot will always thicken from now on. The difference of the attack between this fic and the canon is purely accidental, sort of. I didn't really watch the dub, but for some reason I prefer to use the attack names the dub have come up with instead of the original ones... but I couldn't really say which is which, and so there you have it.

**_Evan miller_** – I would love to hear any input from the readers.

**_Quinton Notwen_** – Yeah, sometimes when I'm stuck with one story I'd try to write the other. Although the plot has been outlined sometimes it's hard to type it just yet, so I'd rather wait for inspiration to come by rather than forcing myself to write. So that's why sometimes there will be two to three updates for Legend of the DigiDestined and one update to Vengeance ratio.

**_Isadora Quagmire12_** – Thank you. I haven't watched Digimon Frontier yet, so I wouldn't know that Wizardmon's canon pre-evolution stage is Candlemon. Thanks for the information. I usually use Megchan's Encyclopedia for references, and it is said there that Demidevimon can evolve to Wizardmon although it's not the most popular line to be used.

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The Niximon belong to me, and **_DigiScanner-Shonnen_**. They are actually mentioned before as the Sirenmon, but DSS has recommended another interesting, more original name for the original digimon, and also has provided me with the descriptions and the mythological creature in which the Niximon are based upon. Please don't use this character without my permission.


	19. Friction

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 19 – Friction_**

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With Mermaidmon's assistance, the Bane Buccaneer made it out of Poseidon Gate safely. They came out to an open sea, or rather, a blue-green ocean that stretched all the way to the horizon. It was already midday, and the sky was never clearer with barely any clouds to block the warm sunrays. The waters were calm, and beautifully reflected the sunshine.

After the whole fiasco with the Niximon, it seemed like their journey to File Island up north would not be disturbed anymore. Hookmon had made a calculation earlier, before they set forth to the File Island, which they would reach there by sundown. Despite being delayed momentarily, Hookmon believed that they could still make it there on time.

Of course, what they didn't know at the moment was the fact that at the moment, two Digimon were on their way to disrupt their trip again. This time around, they were not the Niximon.

Gesomon and Tylomon. Both were made stronger with Dragomon's power, making them reaching the level of power nearing any ultimate Digimon. They were originally Dragomon's experimented subjects which had gone wrong – the outcome was the degradation of their power into the levels any strong rookie Digimon would have possessed. Despite that, they remained loyal to their master. They didn't join IceDevimon's forces to thwart him when they had the chance. It was that quality alone which made Dragomon not hesitating to infuse them with his own powers. They were devoted, and of all things which were bad, Dragomon certainly valued that certain quality. Both Digimon were determined to prove that they were worthy of their master's powers, and would do their best to perform the task which they were assigned.

Number one; destroy the DigiDestined and their Digimon partners.

Number two; retrieve Huanlongmon's golden Digicore.

And last but not least, the third task; infect Hookmon's crewmembers with the Curse of the Crimson Eyes.

With that in mind, both marine Digimon sped through the underwater currents, using an alternate route other than the dreadful Poseidon Gate to reach their targets. Of course, their route involved them crossing the equally-frightful Dark Whirlpool as well. No ordinary Digimon would have dared to venture close to the area, which made majority of them to use the safer underwater passage below Poseidon Gate.

But Gesomon and Tylomon were no ordinary Digimon. They were artificial Digimon, created from a number of failed results of an experimentation infused with the great power of a Legion of Darkness. It was not a digivolution which shaped them in what form they were currently in.

And much more importantly, they were servants of Dragomon. Not to mention, loyal ones.

Dragomon had promised those who stayed loyal to him a long time ago, back when they... his subjects... turned up wrong in his experiments, he would make them stronger. It would only be a temporary setback. A minor one actually; it was nothing that couldn't be fixed.

They were at first granted with small amount of power from Dragomon himself. It was nothing ordinary at first, just a little boost to make them able to combat smaller Digimon than they, absorb their data, and regain power.

But then they discovered a side advantage of their given power. Obviously Dragomon meant for it to happen.

The Scubamon who remained loyal to Dragomon were immune to the effect of the Dark Whirlpool. This meant that the Dark Whirlpool would not be able to pull them into it. And the immunity still present, which set them apart from those who had switched to IceDevimon's side. Despite their return to Dragomon, the undersea master didn't bestow them with the immunity like he had done with the loyal ones.

It was easy for Dragomon to do so... for he was the one who created the Dark Whirlpool in the first place. He had placed it on its current location, and he had the power to move it to anywhere else. It was what he would call his form of amusement, for he enjoyed seeing unknowing Digimon trapped inside the whirlpool up till their deletion. And Dragomon would feed off the data from those unfortunate Digimon.

And so, the two artificial Digimon chose the route leading to the Dark Whirlpool, and bypassed it without much effort. After another hour of journey they finally saw their destination – where a great black vessel sailed smoothly across the ocean.

There was still time to make a little survey; just to make sure things would not go wrong.

Other than the Bane Buccaneer, there was a big whale Digimon near it. It seemed that it was accompanying the ship on its journey. It looked formidable enough to stir trouble to them should they attack the ship.

Gesomon and Tylomon looked at each other and reached a mutual agreement.

That whale Digimon had just got to go. He would hamper with the plan. He would be the first one to be disposed.

Then the rest would be easy.

* * *

"Kira... please, let us in!"

No reply came from the other side of the dark-colored wooden door.

The silence nearly drove both young Jon Lee and Kanto Shigumi out of their wits.

It had happened just an hour ago, inside Poseidon Gate. As the consequence of being under the Niximon's control, they had accidentally shoved her out of their way when Kira attempted to stop them from jumping into the water. It resulted in a bruised arm on Kira's part, nothing physically serious other than that... but somehow, it had caused a bruise on her feelings as well.

And the end result... the two boys were slapped on the cheek by the emotionally-bruised girl.

Now, the two white bathrobe-clad young boys were trying to make amends with the girl.

"She's letting this go way over her head," muttered Kanto. "_I_ don't get angry with her when _she_ was under IceDevimon's control! And I was there!"

Jon shook his head calmly. "I guess she's just shocked of having been injured by two of whom she considers as her best friends. Besides, she'd never inflicted you any physical harm back then, or am I wrong?"

"You're right about that... but can't she be a little forgiving? It's not like we wanted to shove her... I don't even remember myself doing that."

"I don't say that we deserve it... the slaps, I mean. But maybe we should hear her out first before passing judgment."

"How are we going to hear her out when she doesn't even want to let us in?"

"Err...good point. We'll work on that."

Kanto glanced upon the blonde, his eyes narrowed. "You seem calm about this."

"Well... let's just say that Kira is quite used to have things done her way," replied Jon. "It's usually nothing serious. She sees herself as my older sister, despite only a month difference, and uses that at her advantage. And she's the youngest in the family, so... I think you get what I mean."

"I understand perfectly," said Kanto quietly. "She sounds like a _brat_."

Jon looked momentarily shocked before resuming his calm demeanour. "You don't mean that. You don't want Darien to hear that."

"So what? I think I speak out the truth. She has Darien to back her up... she has _you_ to follow her around..."

"Now don't bring me on this. I've done you nothing wrong," Jon cut in quickly, his voice raised slightly. He glared at the violet-eyed boy and added calmly, "...and I don't follow her around."

Kanto immediately realized what he had done. Quickly he apologized, "Sorry...I don't mean to snap at you like that. It's just that...well; I don't know how to say it but... I really don't mean what I've said just now. I'm sorry."

Jon smiled at the strawberry-blonde boy. "Eh...don't worry about it. I think we have a bigger fish to worry about."

Suddenly the door flung open, and a sullen-looking Kira Kanemuchi poked her head from the sideways. She was wearing an identical white bathrobe to what the boys were wearing, since her clothes, along with the other DigiDestined's, were with Mama Burgermon for cleaning and drying.

"If you're both done talking about me...you can either come in or get out!" She opened the door wider, but glared at the two boys.

Both boys gulped, but while Jon merely smiled sheepishly to her, Kanto decided to glare back into her brown eyes, to her surprise. She watched the two boys enter and shut the door. From the corner of the cabin the boys could see Renamon leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest and eyes shut. Kira beckoned for them to sit at the nearby two-sitter divan near the bed.

"Renamon...a little privacy please?" Kira requested.

The tall kitsune eyed her partner speculatively before nodding understandingly. She didn't give a reply, but directly went to the door. But instead of opening it, she became invisible and her semi-transparent form walked through the door...much to the boys' amazement. But given their current situation none voiced out their surprise. Instead they fixed their gazes on the standing girl, which was avoiding their eyes at the same time.

While she avoided from looking at the boys' gazes on her, she couldn't help but feel a slightly hostile glare coming from one of them.

"Kanto...why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why? You tell me," was the reply, which sounded bitter and challenging at the same time.

"Kanto...Kira...this isn't exactly what I have in mind..."

Kira turned to face the blonde. "So, what do you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking...maybe we could just...well, forget about this? It's not like us to fight..."

"I'll forget about this if she does! And she does owe US an apology!"

"Me? What about you? The both of you? For this?" Kira raised her right arm and tugged the sleeve down to her elbow, revealing the bruise mark.

Jon nodded silently. "If it can be resolves in apology...so I'll gladly..."

"Not a chance! We DON'T deserve to get slapped by her!" Kanto cut in quickly, still undaunted.

"What? It's only fair, considering what you have inflicted on my ARM!"

Kanto stood up angrily and stood right in front of the smaller girl. "We weren't ourselves! Jon, me, your brother, Max, and our partners... all of us fell under influence of those...those she-demons! Why can't you just let that tiny piece of information sink into that thick head of yours! You are blaming us for something that we have no control upon! Those...those Niximon... they CONTROLLED us and do you know how...how frustrating it is when you can't recall what you're forced to do? Do you? I don't think so! If you want us to apologize... then fine! I'M SORRY! Satisfied?"

With that, Kanto turned around and faced the wall. Everyone could see that he was evidently shaking.

Kira just stood there, perplexed of Kanto's sudden outburst, and was even more surprised to find tears forming in her eyes as she ran outside, going for the upper deck. She nearly stumbled upon the stairs but managed to get a hold of herself, and climbed up... only to bump into somebody who was just coming down. Luckily the one she bumped into didn't do much more than a flinch, or else both of them would stumble down the stairs.

The girl hoped that it was her older brother she had bumped into...she really needed to talk to someone.

But it was somebody else. It was the eldest member of their team. Max Miyazaki.

"Watch where you're going, Kira. You've nearly caused us to fly down the stairs," he reprimanded.

"I...I'm sorry, Max. I should be watching where I'm going," she said, and quickly wiped the tears on her face with the sleeve of her bathrobe.

However, the redhead's eyesight was sharp. _She's crying,_ he noted mentally.

"I take it that things between you, Jon and Kanto aren't going well?" he guessed. Earlier, he and Darien saw the two boys trying to figure out how to confront Kira. His eyes trailed to Kira's right arm where the bruise mark was present. _The bruise mark...I bet that's the reason behind all this mess._

Kira merely nodded, and this time she didn't bother to stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he offered, but mentally he was berating himself. _Talk? Since when did you offer to help solve other people problems?_

"I guess... Have you seen Darien or Renamon upstairs?"

"Darien's upstairs, sunbathing while tending to both Tsunomon and Koromon. I don't see Renamon anywhere ever since we got out from Poseidon Gate."

"Oh..."

Max shook his head in pity, and guessed that she hadn't solved her problem yet. _Am I really up to this? Well...ToyAgumon seems to think that it is ok. _

"Tell you what. Let's go to the kitchen and have something to drink. There, maybe you can tell me what's been bothering you. I think I can help."

It was a surprising offer, especially since it came from Max. Kira wasn't close with the redhead, but she could detect the sincerity of the offer. She couldn't talk to Jon or Kanto just yet...and after thinking about it she really didn't want to ask for Darien's opinion either, assuming that her brother would be a little biased when it came to her. A neutral party was what she needed...and Max qualified.

And so she found herself nodding deftly, following the older boy towards the way to the cafeteria.

* * *

"Kanto...now look at what you've done!" Jon complained, after seeing Kira set off from the room. "Kanto?"

He glanced back towards where Kanto was standing...and was stunned to see that the boy was actually struggling not to cry. His body was shaking as he attempted to block the tears which threatened to flow down his cheek.

"Kanto..."

"I've lost it. I don't even know what came to me just now...I've never lost my temper like that before," Kanto mumbled.

"Yeah...you two should see yourself fight. It...it was horrible."

Kanto nodded sullenly. "I know...I really should have apologized, didn't I? That way, I'd have avoided all of this from happening."

"Well...you did lose your temper, but I wouldn't blame only you for that," said Jon understandingly as he got up and approached the other boy.

"What do you think I should do? I still think that she's wrong to slap us like that...but now, I'm also thinking that I'm not that right either."

"If you ask me...I think the fight is totally pointless and worthless, if it would cost us our friendship."

"Should I go and find her now...and try to talk things over civilly?" asked Kanto, his face fell slightly upon pondering what Jon had just said.

Jon shook his head. "No...Not right now. Just give her time to think this over. It would give you some time to cool off as well. Both of you were angry at each other now and it would prove disastrous if you two should meet each other again within this hour. For now... let's just go upstairs, see if the fresh air could relax our mind a little bit. Maybe it'd be best to talk with Darien too... Despite what you may think of him, he's not that biased when it comes to Kira. He may be a little bit of an overprotective big brother when it comes to Kira, but he's actually cool enough to listen to others. And remember, he was also possessed by those Niximon just the same way the two of us and Max did. That would make him understand our situation even more."

Kanto contemplated with the offer for a while, before agreeing with it. Together, the two boys then went up to the upper deck to find Darien.

* * *

Max waited patiently until their drinks arrived and until Kira managed to regain her composure. Across their table were Agumon and Gabumon, eating to their hearts' content while telling a story to the Chibi and Ebi Burgermon. The two siblings seemed to be very excited upon hearing the recollection of what Max had heard to be Agumon and Gabumon's most extraordinary adventures.

Silently he was contemplating with himself whether he would really be of any help in this matter. He didn't think that he was any good in this. But it looked like Kira had a hard time dealing with the...well, he didn't manage to finish up whatever he was thinking when his name was called.

"Max?"

"Hmm...? Oh, sorry...I was thinking."

"Are you sure that it's ok if I talk with you about this whole thing? I mean, I really don't want to be a bother to you."

"I think I was the one who offered to talk with you?"

Kira smiled slightly upon the direct statement pointed out by the older boy. "Yeah, I guess so."

"So...what happened?"

Kira hesitated momentarily, but as soon as she started speaking she had managed to describe the whole event happening back to her room until the event leading to Kanto's outburst to her. All this time she was confused of the real reason of becoming angry with Jon and Kanto in the first place. It wasn't like she didn't know that the two had fallen under influence of the Niximon. She didn't know what had got into her...and what was more perplexing was the fact that how begrudgingly she was holding the matter off.

"...I really, really don't understand even myself now, Max. Why am I feeling like this? I mean...I've never been the one who wanted to fight. Yet now...I've started one, and at the cost of two of my closest friends. I don't know what's gotten into me today."

Hearing Kira's story only confirmed Max of his earlier suspicion, before Kira had cut his trail of thoughts off.

Clearing his throat slightly, although it was really unnecessary, Max began by tugging the right-hand sleeve of Kira's bathrobe, revealing the bruise mark.

"I think this is the main problem, am I right? Every time you saw this...you became angry of whatever reason this is inflicted on you."

Kira looked mystified slightly. "How...how did you know?"

Max sighed. "Have you forgotten what your brother and I have told all of you during breakfast time?" Without waiting for Kira's answer, Max tugged slightly his robe over the chest region, revealing the fading red line mark on his chest.

Kira gasped upon seeing the mark, horrified. She was silent, her mind definitely was processing the new revelation she was given. Of course, she had heard it from Max during breakfast, but the teen had been very discreet about it, and she didn't actually get to see the scar.

"And there's another similar scar at the back of my body, but I don't think I can show you just yet without taking my robe off...and that's all I'm wearing for now. My clothes are still in the laundry," Max said, and smiled sheepishly as he refastened his bathrobe tightly over his body.

Normally, Kira would have blushed, but her mind was completely focused of the red scar on Max's chest.

"Who...did this to you?" she asked, and when she saw Max's face darkened slightly, she quickly added, "If it's ok for me to ask."

"No, it's alright. I just hate to think about it...but ToyAgumon told me that it's a good thing if I'm able to open up with the four of you. It was my uncle... he was the husband of my mom's sister. He used to beat me up ever since I moved in with him...when my parents broke up. I don't know what happened with my dad...he seemed to have just walked away one day, leaving my mom and me alone. Now, my mom had started studying again about four years ago to become a lawyer... she had just started internship with a local court, and was extremely busy that she hadn't enough time for me. So she figured that it was better if I live with her sister instead, as she needs to concentrate and I didn't exactly make it easy for her to do so. I had problems on my own when it comes to school and studying... and sometimes I would fight with her verbally. I moved to Heighton View Terrace about a few months ago...and that was when the nightmare began. My uncle... he'd beat me up whenever he was drinking, or for some more petty reasons like... for instance, I didn't finish up cooking the dinner in time, or didn't manage to clean up the house by the time he got back...you get the drift. He claimed it was to discipline a brat like me...although I know for sure that my mom had never known anything about this. Had she known...well, she would take me back...but she was barely making off money on her own, I couldn't bear to become a burden to her. What money she did make, she would send some of it to cover my expenses... but guess what? It never got to me; instead it was off to my aunt and cousin's shopping spree...or worse, my uncle's gambling."

Kira felt her throat running dry and merely nodded as Max continued his story.

"There's just one man who was sympathetic of my situation. It was the guard of the apartment complex. He found out about me being beaten actually from a neighbor who I think lives three units away. A Mrs. Kamiya, I think... I'm not so sure. Anyway the guard, Hiroshi-san, became a shoulder for me to cry on. I told him everything, but I didn't want him to report this to the police. I've even asked him to tell this Mrs. Kamiya not to do that. I don't know why... maybe I just didn't want to cause my mom anymore trouble.

"But one day, I've had enough...so I packed and ran away, trying to convince my mom that I wanted to stay with her. I know she wanted to have me with her, and I have plans in mind to just work part time or anything, to help her out. But I ended up here...and despite all the fighting, the battles, the evil Digimon we have faced... not once I've regretted coming here. Because it was quite a while since I have any real friend, but here... I have the four of you, ToyAgumon and the other Digimon partners. ToyAgumon knew about my problems ever since we first met, two weeks before the four of you came... and he became my confidant. But he had reminded me that one day...I have to talk with you guys about this. And I guess this is just as good time as any...

"...And I think I got a little sidetracked. I'm supposed to listen to you. Instead, it's the other way round..." Max chuckled lightly. _This is not what I have in mind, but God does it feel good! I feel like I've had a burden off my chest now._

"No...it's ok," Kira smiled. "I appreciate that you've decided to tell me about this. We're always wondering about it."

Max grinned, and Kira was surprised to see the difference between his current expression and his usually placid one.

"But anyway, I think I still have a message to pass on to you," Max said, cutting off Kira's thought, and pointed towards the bruise on Kira's hand. "At least, this mark was inflicted on you without the purpose of actually hurting you. It was purely accidental on behalf of Jon and Kanto's part. It's less painful...rather than having to live with a thought that this mark over here..." he motioned towards his chest. "...was inflicted with the actual intention of wanting to see you hurting and suffering. The pain is lasting...but even it can go away, if you let it. You just have to...let go, I guess. Do you understand what I mean?"

Kira let the message sunk in...and nodded vigorously. She had finally understood the origin of her anger towards the two boys, and found it rather foolish, now that she'd thought of it.

"I've been very stupid," she groaned, burying her face inside her palms.

"No, you're not," said Max, with a twinkle in his serious hazel eyes. Kira looked up as Max continued, "...its part and parcel of growing up. Believe me...I've done some stupider things when I was your age. But let's leave that to later. I think you have a more important matter to deal with now, don't you?"

"Yes. Please excuse me, Max...but I must go and apologize to them now. It's been very nice talking to you... and I wish we can have this kind of talk again. It really boosts up my feelings," said Kira as she got up and prepared to leave.

"Go on then. About the talk... I think the five of us will be stuck with each other for quite some time now... so you know where to find me," said Max. "And no, thank you for listening to me. You've made my day too, you know. Now go on."

Kira laughed and quickly exited the café, leaving Max alone with his drink. He soon realized that while he had barely touched his juice, Kira had gulped down her milkshake while listening to his story. For the first time in months... he was in high spirits that even simple matter like that concerning of the drinks could humor him. It felt good. The advice he had given Kira also reflected on what he should be doing himself. When he realized this, he felt better than ever.

_ToyAgumon was right! Talking does help...I really have to thank him. Not to forget, Darien and Kira as well... _

* * *

Jon and Kanto found Darien lying on a bench, completely enjoying the sun of mid-afternoon while looking out for Koromon and Tsunomon, who were both bouncing happily around the bench. He was getting a suntan for his already tanned skin, and had left his upper part of his body bare while wearing the same bathrobe as the rest of them to cover anything below the waist. Upon the sight of the two younger boys, Darien quickly got up, making room for them to sit.

"Hey there... care to join me to enjoy the sun? Max seems to hate the sun and has gone off inside..." he said, until he saw the two boys' grieved expressions. "Oh... I take it that it didn't go well with Kira?"

Jon sat on the bench beside the dark-haired teen, and pointed to Kanto who had chosen to sit at Darien's other side.

"I'll let Kanto do the storytelling," he said.

"Me? Why me...? Oh all right," he groaned...which caused Darien to eye him suspiciously.

Within just a minute, Kanto quickly explained the situation he had gotten the two of them into with Kira. He told Darien everything, about him losing his temper with Kira, and his ponderings on whether or not he should apologize to the girl. Jon merely stated that he was ready to apologize, but didn't get the chance to do so. Kanto fidgeted nervously as he waited the verdict.

"Well...just let her cool off for a while," he finally said, and Kanto sweatdropped.

"That's exactly what Jon had said to me down there," he stated.

Darien grinned. "Of course...maybe you shouldn't have lost your temper if you believe that you're right in the first place."

"You got me there," said Kanto. "Yeah, I guess I should go and apologize for losing my temper..."

"The both of you deserve an apology from Kira; I'd give you two that. But in my opinion maybe you should wait until all three of you are cool about it. You know, no longer angry at each other. Then you three can have a decent conversation, and it would be a good time to apologize."

Again, Kanto sweatdropped. "You know, that's exactly what Jon had said too."

Darien laughed before his face grew slightly solemn. "Well...what can I say? It's pretty obvious what the solutions to this problem are. It's just that you shouldn't let anger cloud your judgment. Anger can be an ugly thing, especially if you can't control it. You'll say things you didn't mean to, and words can cut through a heart even way deadlier than any sharpest weapons in the world can. Be careful about that."

This time, it hit Kanto close to home. "You got me there again..."

"Not really," said Darien. "This goes to everyone."

"Thanks, Darien," said Kanto gratefully. "That is one sound advice."

"Anytime, kiddo. Now, what say the two of you join me and get a tan from this lovely mid-afternoon sunshine? Get some color on your pale skin."

"I'll pass, Darien. Don't you know that the sunrays coming on the afternoon and after that can cause cancer if being exposed to you for a long time? It contains UV light properties in its highest concentration," Jon chastised the teen.

"Not necessarily..." called a womanly voice from the upper deck. All of them saw that it was Mermaidmon speaking, with Hookmon steering the navigator wheel. Wizardmon, Kotemon and Renamon were up there as well, and it seemed that they were in the middle of a conversation. "While that may be possible in your world, that rule doesn't apply here in the Digital World. If it does...then I'd probably be deleted already." She laughed upon this good-naturedly.

"Thanks, Mermaidmon!" called Darien, with a wave of his hand.

Mermaidmon winked back seductively. "Anytime for a sexy, handsome lad like you, honey!" Mermaidmon laughed again, showing that she wasn't really serious with the remark. But that remark had an opposite effect on Darien, who blushed furiously and decided to stop having his suntan for the day by wearing back his bathrobe.

Both Jon and Kanto laughed about this, only to stop when Darien fixed a glare towards them.

"Hey, sugar!" called Mermaidmon again, which caused Darien to groan out of mild frustration. "Can you do me a favor and round up all your friends and partners? I think the ship is now clean enough, and I do have something to tell all of you. It's very important."

"Sure thing, Mermaidmon," he replied back dully, and began trudging his way towards the stairs.

Jon and Kanto followed Darien closely from behind.

"Darien, I may not know much about this...but I do know that Mermaidmon was flirting with you back there," Jon said curiously.

"It looks like she has taken a liking on you," said Kanto. "So what happened?"

"Don't remind me..." Darien said grumpily. "And don't ask me...I don't really know. She's different from what I've thought of her when she saved us."

"Oh well...everyone has his or her own quirks. Makes us special in some ways, right?" Jon said.

"Whatever her intentions are, Darien...she seems like she's not being so discreet about it," Kanto said. "Maybe she likes you."

Darien sweatdropped. "Me... and a mermaid Digimon? Woah, woah...just wait a minute there! I admit she's hot and all and she do look human... but she's still a Digimon! And truthfully...she's not my type! I still have my eyes on human girls, thank you very much...and preferably not with that pirate chic look."

Jon and Kanto roared with laughter as they began to descend the stairs, but suddenly both boys tensed up...

...when they saw Kira, who was on her way to the upper deck.

* * *

Not far from the Bane Buccaneer, Whamon was sailing across the surface of the ocean while enjoying the good weather and the constant bickering of his two occupants – Leomon and Ogremon. They had been on a non-stop verbal competition ever since they were cooped up inside Whamon's stomach while the whale made his journey underwater to cross Poseidon Gate...and now that they were on the surface; Whamon had let them sit on his back.

"I'm better!"

"I'm stronger!"

"Lions suck, ogres rule!"

"No...lions rule, ogres eat dust!"

The bickering may sounded childish, especially if the exchanges involved two strong champion Digimon such as Leomon and Ogremon.

But in all actuality, a part of their rookie selves still remained. They had been forced to advance into champion level while under Boogeymon's influence... which meant that they hadn't completely outgrown some aspects of their rookie selves.

Ogremon, whom had digivolved from Goburimon, had been known for his mischief when he was still a rookie. He and two of his fellow friends sometimes went too far with their jokes and it had cost them the lives of two in-training Digimon. They even had the gall to absorb the data... out of curiosity and of course, their viral wild nature.

Leomon, matured from Elecmon, was known for his maturity. It was why Elecmon species were elected as the caretaker of Primary Village. Their maturity would be perfect for them to tend to baby Digimon. Being in rookie level meant that Elecmon was not too large to intimidate the baby, and lacked the fighting instinct a Digimon would usually had once it had learned digivolving into champion level. Some Digimon may have this level since they were even rookie level, but Elecmon was one of very few exceptions. Elecmon had lived with the Goburimon brothers until he discovered that they were responsible for the death of the missing two Yokomon in the village. Angered of the heartless killings, Elecmon feared the safety of the other baby Digimon should he allowed the Goburimon brothers to remain. Thus, by authorizing his title as caretaker of Primary Village, and his timely digivolution into Leomon, he had banished the three Goburimon out from Primary Village.

It was due to this event that the Goburimon brothers held such grudge against Elecmon. Once they were under Boogeymon's command, they had been assigned to battle Leomon, and two of them were deleted. The remaining survivor had absorbed the date of his brothers and digivolved into Ogremon.

Leomon and Ogremon proved to be an even match, which enacted the beginnings of a bitter rivalry.

However it wasn't over as both of them fell under Boogeymon's power, and were used against the DigiDestined, causing the death of Impmon, one of Kanto Shigumi's two partner Digimon.

This experience sobered up Leomon's grudge against Ogremon, as he had indirectly took part in the deletion of Impmon. However Ogremon wasn't the one to let go that easily. But, their teaming up together to fight Phelesmon had been the trigger point of a change of feelings.

No more grudges were felt, albeit it was begrudgingly admitted by the ogre Digimon. Of course, he hadn't said a thing to Leomon, admitting this only to himself. The rivalry with Leomon was fulfilling, to say the least. It gave Ogremon the drive to become stronger, as he had always viewed the noble lion Digimon as having surpassed him in terms of power.

And thus, it led them to this day...one day after they teaming up together to assist the DigiDestined fighting the Legion of Darkness.

To Ogremon, perhaps it would be a new start. He'd felt remorse for his past deed...and he wasn't exactly evil to begin with. Perhaps it was time to turn over a new leaf. Helping the DigiDestined to fight the evil had been fulfilling.

Smirking, he countered what Leomon had said to him. "Lions are pussycats!"

"Ogres are dumb!" Leomon shot back.

None noticed the huge sweatdrop forming on top of Whamon's head as he listened to their exchanges silently. However he kept his focus to keep up with the Bane Buccaneer. He could go faster but he wanted to make sure that the ship would make it to the File Island. He had heard of their misadventures inside Poseidon Gate, and was determined not to let anything happen to the ship anymore.

However... it was not meant to be, when something struck him in the belly from underneath.

"Gaaahh!" Whamon roared in pain, the excruciating feeling began to flare to all of his body parts. The underhand means left him with no way to defend himself. He began to feel the power Omnimon had bestowed upon him diminishing, and without any warning, de-digivolved back into tiny Otamamon.

With the devolution, Leomon and Ogremon found themselves crashing into the water along with Otamamon as a giant white squid-like Digimon rose up from the surface, tentacles ready to strike on the three of them.

"Coral Crusher!"

* * *

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**Author's Note:**

A fast update by me...it is now winter break and I have all the time I need to write the story. I have a lot of ideas to make this story work, with all sorts of adventure and discovery just to make the first DigiDestined unique compared to the Adventures and 02 DigiDestined, the Digimon Tamers and the Chosen Children. There will be some similarities, but hopefully it will be keep as minimum as possible. About this chapter, I think it's really quite hard to write, despite the time I've spent for it because this chapter involves character development for all five DigiDestined, showing up different sides of them. I really have to practice more on adding humor and feelings to these characters...and I think this chapter is a start. What do you think?

Well...I know I've seldom asked for this, but I would really appreciate if anyone reading this take some time to review. Tell me what you're thinking of the story and what you think I should do to improve the story.

Just to give credit where it is due, the Niximon are still mine and **_DigiScanner-Shonnen_**'s. The exchanges between Leomon and Ogremon are pretty much inspired by **_Ultra Sonic 007_**'s awesome work – Zero 2: A Revision.

**_Isadora Quagmire12_** – Boy am I glad that you reviewed just as soon as the update's done. I'm flattered that you actually counted the days until my next update. Well, this chapter's for you! Don't stop reviewing, alright?


	20. Ocean Predicament

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 20 –Ocean Predicament_**

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While Leomon, Ogremon and the now-devolved Otamamon were under attack by Gesomon, the Bane Buccaneer was also in its own trouble.

Unnoticed by the occupants of the ship, a spiraling body of water had formed beneath the ship. Starting out as small currents which were set in spiraling motion underneath the black vessel, it began to grow bigger gradually. However it wasn't a natural occurrence, as it did not happen on its own accord.

The spiraling body of water was a whirlpool, usually formed when two strong ocean tides collided with each other. Contrary to popular belief, a whirlpool was not so dangerous, as the vast majority of it wasn't so powerful. Those of the more powerful ones were usually quite potent, and the dangerous ones were termed as maelstroms.

The whirlpool underneath the ship wasn't harmful yet, but as it grew bigger, its potency increased.

It was not usual for a calm ocean to have a whirlpool. Unless, of course, if there was a trigger that caused it.

Right at the moment, unknown to the Digimon and the DigiDestined on board of the Bane Buccaneer, Tylomon – another servant of Dragomon made out of three of the failed Scubamon – was underneath the ship. While Gesomon decided to attack Whamon, Tylomon had other plan in its conceited mind. Having been upgraded into his current form, Tylomon's brain had evolved as well thanks to Dragomon's own power.

He was the trigger to the whirlpool.

He had approached the ship silently, and upon reaching right under the vessel he began swimming in a circular motion. Starting out slowly, Tylomon began to exert more vigor and speed as he completed one round after another. Gradually, a forceful current began to form trailing his spiraling movements, and a downdraft materialized straight down towards the seemingly bottomless ocean.

A vortex had been created, and the force generated from it was enough to tamper with the ship's movements.

* * *

The navigator wheel was spinning at its own accord, without Hookmon maneuvering it. Strangely, it also was spinning at top speed, which baffled the captain of the vessel even more. Hookmon's cannon-hand slipped from the wheel, and the hooked right hand caught on the spinning wheel, dragging the nautical Digimon along with it.

"Just what's going on around here?" he huffed, and struggled to pull the golden hook free from the spinning wheel.

Mermaidmon saw Hookmon's difficulty and quickly attempted to stop the wheel's uncontrollable spinning by sticking her golden anchor to the wheel. However, the wooden navigator wheel smashed upon attempted contact with the tough anchor, causing Mermaidmon to sweatdrop in confusion.

"Oops...I didn't expect this to happen," she admitted, as Hookmon finally managed to pull his hook free.

"Just look at what you've done!" Hookmon huffed, and inspected the remains of the navigator wheel. He kicked away the golden anchor and moaned sadly. "Now how am I going to navigate the ship? It's ruined! My baby...my precious ship..."

Mermaidmon backed off quietly, wisely keeping silent. She had meant well, but the result wasn't what she had in mind. She glanced at the three destined Digimon with a sheepish look on her face. Kotemon and Wizardmon gave her sympathetic looks, while Renamon was indifferent although her piercing eyes were staring accusingly at the mermaid Digimon.

Suddenly, the fox spoke up while raising her right paw slightly. "The winds are changing..."

Kotemon peered down the deck through the gaps from the deck walls, and gasped. "There's a whirlpool under this ship!"

The taller Renamon and Wizardmon looked over the wall, and saw that Kotemon was right. The reason why Renamon felt that the wind directions are changing was due to the fact that the Bane Buccaneer had been trapped inside a whirlpool, which mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. Nobody remembered ever seeing a whirlpool before, and a whirlpool was not something that they could miss. Hookmon had commented that he had taken the Poseidon Gate route to avoid the Dark Whirlpool...but there was a whirlpool now under the ship. It was however too small, fortunately, to claim the bane Buccaneer wholly. Still, the force that was pulling them into the downdraft was strong, and there was no way for the ship to escape.

Mermaidmon seemed to be sensing that something was amiss as well, judging from her frowning face and the way she perked her head up, as if inspecting the winds as well. Hookmon was still lamenting the damage done towards the navigator wheel, looking oblivious to what was going on.

"Of course! There's no way Hookmon can control this ship if it's caught inside a whirlpool," Wizardmon remarked loudly to attract Hookmon's attention.

Hookmon's head instantly jerked up, and he rushed over towards the wall. By the time he was there, the whirlpool had already grown twice its size when the destined Digimon saw it in the first place.

"This is not the Dark Whirlpool...but I can't recall ever encountering this whirlpool before," Hookmon said in confusion. His face whitened in fear upon a thought which suddenly crossed his mind. "And with the navigator wheel damaged...how am I going to get all of us out from here?"

A dark shadow suddenly passed under the ship, barely visible due to the whirlpool which seemed to camouflage its appearance. However it was enough a sight for the Digimon to realize that it was an aquatic Digimon, with body resembling that of a shark.

"There's something down there!" Kotemon cried. "It's a big...large...no, make it, a massive fish!"

"I'll go check," Mermaidmon offered, and rushed past the other Digimon to retrieve her anchor. Then, she went back towards the walls and jumped off the ship. Her legs began to emit shiny gray lights and morphed back into a long, shiny, black tail upon contact with the waters. She swam into the depth of the whirlpool, and summoned all her energy to resist the currents of the whirlpool. As an ultimate level Digimon, Mermaidmon was only slightly fazed by the whirlpool, but she decided to be careful anyway. One wrong move and she could be sucked into the bottom of the whirlpool.

Mermaidmon was about to utter out the initiation summons of her attack when her eyes caught a swift movement. It moved in a blink of the eye; Mermaidmon wondered whether she was imagining it or not.

'There it is again! It seems that the Kotemon's right.' she thought, as the same figure moved again in front of her. The figure, whatever it was, was moving inside the whirlpool and in accordance with the whirlpool's flow. Mermaidmon could make out somebody with deep blue of color; something fish-like, and something which was moving swiftly in a spinning direction.

Upon seeing the creature again, Mermaidmon recognized it instantly.

'A rare, armor level Digimon!' she gasped silently, trying to recall the identity of the Digimon she had seen. As an Ultimate, Mermaidmon had a lot of experience and had expansive knowledge of all marine type Digimon of all types and levels. She had seen most of the marine Digimon, and had heard of many others whom she hadn't the chance to meet. However, armor level Digimon was a rare occurrence. 'I've heard of this Digimon from the ancient inscriptions of the depth...but I thought it is supposed to be ancient. Never mind that; I still have to stop this whirlpool.'

Aiming her golden anchor towards the spiraling water vortex, she cried out, "Northern Cross Bomber!" and fired off jets of water in four different directions, hoping that the sheer force of her attack would nullify the whirlpool. Unfortunately, the whirlpool seemed to be unaffected; instead it was Mermaidmon's attack which was sucked by the whirlpool, adding to its energy.

But the attack did attract the Digimon's attention. A flash of crimson caught Mermaidmon's eye, making her realize that she was up against a Digimon serving the Legion of Darkness. She would be fighting a Digimon with the dreadful curse! Mermaidmon had heard of the powerful effect the Curse of the Crimson Eyes possessed, but she usually avoided herself from encountering any cursed Digimon fearing the need of deleting them.

However, it didn't look like she had much of a choice now.

As the armor Digimon swam out of the whirlpool, the name of the Digimon finally clicked in Mermaidmon's mind.

"It's a Tylomon! Armor level Digimon, of vaccine type!" she realized, and gaped upon assessing the Digimon's size. "It's HUGE!"

Mermaidmon began to make her way out towards the surface, knowing that she had the advantage of being able to combat Tylomon on the surface. But Tylomon wasn't going to let one he had marked as the enemy escape that easily.

"There's no escape from me, little mermaid! Terror Plankton!" he roared, and sprayed out what seemed like black particles towards Mermaidmon.

Mermaidmon spun and countered Tylomon's attack with her own. "Charm's Plunder!" she cried, releasing jets of orange light which destroyed the particles sent off by the shark Digimon. Tylomon tried again with the same attack, this time doubling the effort and released even more black particles which managed to escape another of Mermaidmon's attempts to counter the attack. What had survived from Mermaidmon's counter attack was revealed to be small organisms resembling mesoplanktons, with sizes merely being 0.02mm to 2cm in diameter.

Those mesoplanktons attached themselves onto Mermaidmon's skin, covering what parts which were left bare. Mermaidmon managed to fend off some of them, but most of them had clasped themselves tight onto Mermaidmon's hands, faces and hairs.

"No!" Mermaidmon gasped, while trying to swim to the surface. She began to feel weak, and dazed. "If I remember correctly the effect of Tylomon's planktons are...poison! They can only be nullified by sunlight!" With that in mind, Mermaidmon gathered what energy she had left and raced towards the surface, hoping that she could make it there on time.

* * *

In the meantime, Leomon and Ogremon, with a weakened Otamamon, were in danger of having to face Gesomon's crushing attack. Leomon managed to grab Otamamon and held the little tadpole close to him before swimming closer to Ogremon. The ogre Digimon was shell-shocked, keeping very still and almost got himself drowned if it wasn't for Leomon's assistance. The lion grabbed hold on him with his remaining free hand, and pulled him close. However that still didn't guarantee their safety, as Gesomon was right in front of them.

Gesomon was quick to attack, seemingly determined to wipe them out as soon as possible with his tentacles. "Coral Crusher!"

With no ways of defending themselves, bone club and black sword missing in the waters, the two mock-feuding Digimon had no choice. Ogremon had regained his senses, and cursed himself silently for making himself too vulnerable until he had to have Leomon to save him.

While not favoring it, both champion Digimon had no other choice but to act merely upon reflex. They couldn't do anything else, except closing their eyes and hoped that it would be a quick, painless deletion. It was funny how fate had determined the outcome for the two of them. Just minutes ago they were bickering, and now, they would meet their doom together. How ironic, for two supposedly enemies, to die together.

But it seemed that fate still had something else in mind rather than having the three Digimon deleted.

Which was the main reason why instead of being crushed to their doom by Gesomon's Coral Crusher, they heard snaps and crackles of electricity, and sounds of explosions ensued thereafter. Slowly opening their eyes, they saw that it was Wizardmon, on board of the Bane Buccaneer, firing off his thunderbolts to counter Gesomon's assault, and to attract the squid Digimon away from them.

All three Digimon were grateful for the assistance plus diversion, and quickly swam away as Wizardmon floated over them. The wizard Digimon fired off thunderbolts one after another towards the squid.

"Hurry! Get on board the ship! I don't think I can hold this squid on much longer!" Wizardmon said urgently.

Leomon (with Otamamon still held close to him) and Ogremon dived down the waters and swam at top speed onwards the Bane Buccaneer, but saw that it was impossible for them to approach, as there was a whirlpool underneath the ship. Should they force themselves into the whirlpool, the vortex within would suck all three of them, and would send them to their doom. The ship itself was trapped; how in the world could they save themselves now.

* * *

The ship's sudden shook was enough to distract Jon and Kanto away from Kira, and together they shot up back towards the upper deck, leaving Darien and a very confused Kira. Darien looked at his sister sympathetically, but decided that he'd leave the matter to the three younger kids to handle.

"The ship's shaking," said Darien, and he beckoned towards the upper deck. "We better go up and check it out."

Kira nodded slowly. "I guess so." She appeared to be slightly surprised and sad upon the sudden departure of the two younger boys, but Darien pretended to take no notice of it. Instead, his dark eyes were focused on two bobbing figures which were tagging along with him.

"But Koromon and Tsunomon will need to stay downstairs," said Darien firmly, much to the In-Trainings' disappointment.

"Aw...but we wanna help!" Koromon and Tsunomon whined.

"How about you go and look for Max, and tell him of what's going on?" Darien suggested. "He should be around the lower deck somewhere."

"He's in the dining hall. I've just met him," Kira supplied. The two in-training Digimon sullenly agreed and hopped away towards the dining hall.

Both brother and sister then trudged up the stairs together and saw that the ship was spinning around in a slow, yet dizzying motion. Darien grabbed hold on Kira's hands to avoid her from falling, and leaned close to the bulkheads. They saw that the others were at the bow, and approached them by grabbing the masts one at a time. From there, they could see clearly of what was happening.

Wizardmon was off fighting a giant squid like Digimon, with Kanto cheering him on from the bridge, where the navigation wheel was, or used to be. It looked like a part of the wheel was smashed into splinters, and what remained from the wheel was what Kanto and Jon were holding on for support.

Kotemon and Renamon were close by the two boys; they were following Hookmon as the captain ran up towards the starboard part to get a better view of the battle between Wizardmon and the squid Digimon. He was depending solely on his hook, which was hooked within the orifices of the walls of the starboard. Renamon held tight on the walls as well, and her left paw was grasping Hookmon's right shoulder to support him from falling. Kotemon used both hands to hold on towards the nearest mast he could grab on.

"What happened?" Darien yelled towards Hookmon, who looked somewhat agitated. However Hookmon need not answer, as Darien cocked his head sideways he himself saw what was wrong, and nearly did a double-take in his surprise. It was the squid Digimon he had seen earlier, fighting with Wizardmon. "Oh! Yuck! Who's that poor excuse of a sushi?"

The pirate heaved his breath heavily as he struggled to maintain his balance. "That's a Gesomon...and looks like it has been infected with the curse," said Hookmon. "Wizardmon has gone to save the whale, and the two Digimon whom he was carrying. Whamon has devolved into his rookie form, and now the three of them are underwater."

Everyone watched the intense battle between Gesomon and Wizardmon, and noted that while the young wizard Digimon had the ability to fly, he was seriously at a disadvantage. Gesomon was persistent in attacking, firing volleys of water-based projectiles towards Wizardmon, who had no other choice but only to evade and counter the attacks.

"Wizardmon seems not to be faring well," Renamon noted. "He could just electrocute that Gesomon, but by doing so he'd risk the safeties of Leomon, Ogremon and the devolved Whamon. Not to mention, that Mermaidmon who is still underwater will be at risk as well."

Renamon was right. Without the opportunity to attack, all Wizardmon could do was to defend himself from his much larger opponent. His magical spells would not have much effect against Gesomon. He really needed help from his fellow destined Digimon.

Jon looked over at Kotemon and decided that what Wizardmon would fare better with some assistance. Taking out his Digivice from the pocket of his bathrobe, Jon held it towards his little samurai partner, and told Kotemon that he'd have to help Wizardmon. Kotemon agreed to it instantly.

"**Kotemon, Digivolve to...Dinohumon!"**

Dinohumon leapt onto the gunwale of the ship, and held himself in a meditative pose. His body glowed with yellow lights, as autumn leaves projectiles began to materialize out of his body.

"Autumn Exorcism!"

Wizardmon turned around, and was grateful for the assistance. He flew out of the way to let Dinohumon's mystical attack took effect on Gesomon. The leaves slammed over Gesomon's body, making the squid grunted in annoyance. He used his many tentacles to swat away the leaf projectiles, and turned to face the Bane Buccaneer.

"Orders from the master of the undersea, Lord Dragomon! Hand over the Golden Digicore to us now, Hookmon!" Gesomon bellowed.

Hookmon paled upon hearing the message brought by Gesomon. Instantly, he realized that Dragomon must be growing impatient that Hookmon hadn't make the delivery yet, or had already realized that Hookmon had decided to assist the DigiDestined to return the Digicore back to its rightful owner. Dragomon was also one of the Legions, which would meant that he was set in battling the DigiDestined as well.

But he didn't reply. An urgent matter was still at hand. Why was the whirlpool there in the first place? If the ship sunk inside the ocean due to the whirlpool, then all would be lost. Everything...

'Everything would be lost? That's it! The servants of Dragomon won't dare to risk the Digicore being lost into the depth of the ocean. They can try to find it, but there's no guarantee that the Digicore is searchable, especially since it will be lost inside a whirlpool... Wait a minute! This whirlpool...I know exactly that I have never encountered this whirlpool before when I was on my way to Database Island. This whirlpool is new, and whirlpool doesn't just happen without reason. The ocean is calm; there are no tidal waves that can create the whirlpool. It must be one of Dragomon's servants' doings. I must stop the whirlpool from sinking my ship!'

"Alright! The Digicore is with me, and I will give it to you! But first, tell whoever responsible for the whirlpool to stop doing this right now!" Hookmon exclaimed loudly. "Or risk the lost of the Golden Digicore into the depths of the ocean."

Gesomon tensed momentarily, but then he countered. "If you do not hand the Digicore, Lord Dragomon orders for the infection of your Koemon crew with the Curse of the Crimson Eyes! Do you wish to surrender the Golden Digicore or not?"

Hookmon was infuriated upon hearing the threat. "Such blasphemy! Nobody threatens my crew like that and get away with it. I will fight you myself, you overgrown poor excuse of a calamari!" He aimed his cannon towards Gesomon and roared, "Captain Cannon!"

Out of anger, the pirate Digimon had launched three cannonballs towards his new antagonist. Gesomon flapped a tentacle and deflected the cannonballs back towards the ship with mild irritation, but before they could reach the ship, Wizardmon quickly aimed a shot towards the three cannonballs and fired out a ray of violet light from his staff, whilst crying out "Magical Game!"

In a matter of seconds, the three cannonballs turned into three harmless bubbles. It was the same trick Wizardmon had used during the battle he and the other destined Digimon were met with an ambush prior to their arrival to Boogeymon's lair. The bubbles popped harmlessly against the masts of the Bane Buccaneer, sending out mild fragrance of something sweet smelling all over the air.

"Good thinking, Wizardmon!" Kanto praised.

"Anti-violence, as always," Renamon remarked with a wry smile. She turned to face her partner, and a glint from her clear blue pupils told Kira enough that she wanted to help as well. Kira nodded silently, and took out her Digivice.

"**Renamon, Digivolve to... Kyubimon!"**

The nine-tailed kitsune then teamed up with Dinohumon and Wizardmon to assist Hookmon in battling Gesomon. With three strong benefactors backing him up, Hookmon was in high spirits. There was no way Gesomon could beat all of them. Momentarily he had hesitated of battling Dragomon's servant, but upon remembering that Dragomon had threatened the safeties of his crews, Hookmon could not just stand back and let it happen. It was his responsibility to ensure the safety of his Koemon crew, as well as the Burgermon family whom he had taken on board for keeping up with the food and the laundry of the members of the ship.

"Let's attack them together!" Hookmon said with determination. "Captain Cannon!"

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Autumn Exorcism!"

"Thunder Blaster!"

The four attacks blasted towards Gesomon, and the squid tried his best to fend off those attacks on him. But his effort was in vain, as the assaults were too devastating for he alone too handle. He was made to be strong, even having the power close to an ultimate level Digimon, but the combined power of four exceptional champion level Digimon proved to be lethal against him.

"Lord Dragomon...I have failed," was what he had managed to sputter, before he disintegrated into data particles.

Hookmon breathed in relief, and the three destined Digimon relaxed before hearing the cries of two familiar voices from the waters. Peering down, they saw Leomon and Ogremon waving up frantically. Held close to Leomon was Otamamon, while Ogremon looked absolutely annoyed. Behind them was a weakened Mermaidmon, her body full of black planktons. Her blonde hair was unbraided, and had gone askew and she was without her pirate hat. She was floating, and was very weak as her energy was drained by the planktons, courtesy of Tylomon, an enemy whom the other Digimon hadn't encountered before.

Wizardmon descended down and used his healing ability to remove the planktons on Mermaidmon's body. The mermaid could do it herself, with aid of the sunrays, but the process would take time and she was already poisoned. Wizardmon however couldn't heal her wholly, but the energy restored on her was enough for her to summon the power of waters to plummet herself, Leomon, Ogremon and Otamamon onto the Bane Buccaneer. Due to her lack of energy she could not control her power fully, resulting in herself and the other Digimon to crash land on the deck. But all of them were safe.

Just as Wizardmon was about to land his feet on the deck as well, the whole ship shook with sheer force.

"What is going on? I thought we've destroyed Gesomon?" Hookmon demanded.

"No..." Mermaidmon said, somewhat weakly. "There's another Digimon down there...it's an armor level Digimon. It's a Tylomon...and the reason of the whirlpool beneath this ship."

Hookmon was taken aback by the revelation. "Impossible! Tylomon species are known to be extinct now. Armor level Digimon are an absolute rarity nowadays...I've never thought I'd hear about them in this age."

"I know what I have seen," Mermaidmon replied curtly. "And besides, everything in the Digital World became random after the arrival of the Legion of Darkness ten years ago. I myself couldn't believe my eyes, I thought I must have been seeing things, but I know what I have seen." The mermaid then changed her tail into legs once more. She struggled to stand up, but ended up collapsing onto the deck once more, partly because she was still weakened, and another reason was because the fact that the ship was still spinning.

Feeling sorry for the mermaid, Darien, who was nearby, rushed over towards her to help. Mermaidmon gladly accepted the offer, and to Darien's relief, she was too weak to come up with a flirtatious comment like she deliberately did to him a while ago. However when the ship shook once more, both of them collapsed onto the deck again, with Darien landing on his face on Mermaidmon's body.

"Uh...sorry about that!" the teen said quickly, blushing as he pulled himself up from the mermaid.

Mermaidmon, her face reddened, merely shook her head, staggering as she got up as well. "An accident...is not worth of anger. That's what you said to the younger boys a while ago, sort of, right? Now, will you please help me up?" She requested, and smiled serenely.

Darien could sense that the female Digimon had somehow taken a liking on him, for whatever reason he was unaware of, but he shrugged it off as he helped Mermaidmon up. The ultimate level Digimon was taller than him, but with her leaning on his body Darien could feel that she was still very weak. He was practically supporting her weight with his body. Looking up to her, Darien couldn't deny the fact that despite the hardened look on Mermaidmon's face, without the black hat she used to wear, and with her blonde hair unbraided and flowing freely down her back, she looked just like the mermaids Darien had read from the fairytale books back home. However he was snapped back into reality when Mermaidmon once again collapsed.

'What am I thinking? She's a Digimon, not a human,' Darien berated to himself. Composing himself quickly, he asked Wizardmon. "What happened to her? Why's she so weak? She was so strong back at that Poseidon Gate."

Wizardmon shook his head. "I don't know for sure, Darien. All I know is that my healing power isn't sufficient enough to heal her."

Mermaidmon choked up and replied as she motioned towards her exposed skin, which had slight reddish marks. "I am poisoned by Tylomon's planktons. I was hoping that the sun would nullify the effect of the planktons, but apparently I was too late. The poison might have already seeped in my systems."

"Are you saying that you're..."

Darien's inquiry was interrupted when suddenly, a huge shark-shaped Digimon shot out from the waters. It had light blue fish-shaped body, with dark blue stripes on his scales. The Digimon's head region was covered with deep purple armor, with white lines marking the upper head region and some crimson markings on the sides where the gills would be located, if they were not covered by the armor. Two light blue, mechanical fins jutted out from the armor, coupling with the organic fins the Digimon already had. Underneath the artificial fins were slots for small torpedoes.

"That's Tylomon!" Mermaidmon and Hookmon both gasped.

"So you have defeated my fellow comrade, didn't you?" Tylomon inquired, with a dark booming masculine voice. "You shall pay for that!" he roared, and loomed down towards the Bane Buccaneer. "Torpedo Attack!"

A huge number of torpedoes shot out from Tylomon's armored fins, aimed to kill all the Digimon and DigiDestined in one go. Fortunately, while Mermaidmon was unable to battle the remaining champion Digimon on board were still raring to go.

Dinohumon, Wizardmon and Kyubimon led the counter attack, firing off their ranged attacks in forms of the Magical Game, the Autumn Exorcism and the Fox Tail Inferno. Some of the torpedoes were burned by Kyubimon's flames, some were deflected into the ocean by the winds of Dinohumon's attack, and some turned into, humorously, wildflowers, upon contact with Wizardmon's magical spell.

Leomon and Ogremon wouldn't want to be left behind as well. Both Digimon jumped into the air and fired off their attacks as well.

"Fist of the Beast King!"

"Pummel Whack!"

The attacks however bounced harmlessly when they collided with Tylomon's armored body. The ancient marine Digimon retaliated with more shots of his torpedoes, firing them all over the ship.

His eyes set on some of the Koemon crew – four of them in total – who were leaning against the portboard side of the ship, and laughed maniacally. "Behold the power of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes!" he roared, and his eyes shone bright red as he loomed closer towards the ship.

Both Hookmon and Mermaidmon paled upon seeing Tylomon's actions.

"We have to stop him! He's going to infect all the Koemon...they're more susceptible to the curse than any other Digimon around here!" Hookmon cried. "Crew, go down the lower decks NOW!"

Unfortunately, the Koemon had their eyes transfixed on Tylomon, enabling the latter to begin transmitting the curse towards them. Their eyes began to glow with crimson lights, but it seemed that the lights were flickering back and forth between crimson and the Koemon's natural black pupils. Tylomon was still far enough to fully infect the Koemon.

"Captain Cannon!" Hookmon roared desperately, firing his cannonballs in an attempt to divert Tylomon's attention from his crew.

Kyubimon and Dinohumon both launched themselves upwards towards Tylomon. Kyubimon turned into a ghastly fire dragon, while Dinohumon charged up his blades with roaring flames. Both of them rammed themselves against the armor Digimon, but unfortunately their assaults bounced off harmlessly against Tylomon's armored structure. Kyubimon's flames and Dinohumon's blades could not penetrate the thick armor.

Tylomon however wasn't going to let a chance of attack to go wasted. He spun and slapped his tail towards Kyubimon and Dinohumon, sending them downward crashing on the deck. He followed up with another volleys of torpedoes to overwhelm the destined Digimon, and sprayed them with his poisonous mesoplanktons.

Wizardmon waved his staff, summoning his Magical Game technique to protect himself and his friends from the deadly torpedoes and poisonous planktons. The torpedoes once again were transformed into wildflowers, while the planktons became strange yellow-colored mists. He then proceeded by flying off the ship and aimed his staff towards the whirlpool which was still threatening the ship and everyone's safety.

"Magical Game!" he cried, and hoped for the best as he channeled his power into his staff.

The staff glowed and released a blue ray of light, which zapped the waters around the whirlpool. Instantly, the waters began to ripple and a new current was formed. The currents moved in a circular motion, but in the opposite direction as the whirlpool. It was weak at first, but similar to the whirlpool it began to gain more force and eventually, began to invalidate the effect of the whirlpool.

The Bane Buccaneer gradually stopped spinning as the whirlpool's effect was nullified until the waters became calm once more, and the ship reached a halt. With that, the occupants of the ship were safe for the time being. However the same thing could not be said for the four unfortunate Koemon, who were earlier exposed to Tylomon's Curse of the Crimson Eyes.

The Koemon, already half-infected, began to flinch horribly as their usually gentle features underwent a gradual transformation. Saliva accumulated inside their mouths, and grunts were heard as the curse began to take effect on them.

"No..." Hookmon said helplessly, his body shaking. "Not my crew...not them..."

Tylomon splashed into the ocean, sending waters everywhere on the ship. He reappeared again on the surface, and sneered with glee (in a way a shark could have sneered).

"Now you know the penalty for turning back against Lord Dragomon!" he bellowed.

Hookmon's body trembled with anger, but hoarse whispers coming from the Koemon suddenly sent chills down his spine. Their whispers...their _last_ wishes, before being completely under the curse.

"Captain...there's no saving the four of us now..."

"The dreadful curse has claimed us..."

Hookmon's head snapped up. "No, there IS a way! I will have to delete Tylomon, and the curse will leave the four of you."

A third Koemon shook his head sadly, his body twitched horribly as the curse was about to take full effect on them. "No...that Tylomon is merely a follower. The undersea master... is the real... perpetrator."

"Then HE will be the one I shall delete!" Hookmon said.

"There's no time...in a matter of seconds, the curse will claim us completely," said a fourth Koemon. "We'd hate ourselves in thinking that we would, in our would-be possessed forms, create a mutiny against you. Sane or not...it will still be insubordination...and we have sworn loyalty to you..."

The first Koemon then spoke up his final words. "Captain...it has been an honor being under your command, and to have the privilege to sail on your prestigious ship. But now...I'm afraid that...our time is up."

"No..." Hookmon said, knowing what the Koemon wanted him to do. "Do not make me do _that_."

By now, the Koemon's eyes were flashing crimson, with merely small hints of black pupils...an evident of their former selves present.

"There's not... much time...left, Captain," wheezed the second Koemon. "We don't... want to harm... you, the DigiDestined... or their partners. When the curse... have claimed us wholly, we're... already dead, Captain. It is... our wishes for you...to delete us before... the curse claim us fully."

The DigiDestined (sans Max, who was still at the lower deck) gasped in horror, and their partner Digimon cringed upon hearing the Koemon's wishes. The Koemon were asking for Hookmon to kill them. While everyone knew that once the curse had claimed a Digimon, then the Digimon was as good as dead, but the request was still unexpected.

"There's got to be another way," Mermaidmon protested weakly, as she tried to stand up with help from Darien.

The four Koemon shook their heads sorrowfully. "It has to be done. We shall have...no regrets. Do it NOW, captain."

Mermaidmon was struck with the sincere, yet saddened answer coming from the Koemon. She realized that they were right. They would rather be deleted than to live their remaining lives as accursed zombies. Their lives had been fulfilling before the infection; by denying their last request would be similar to condemning them to an eternal bondage with the forces of evil. None of the Koemon had wanted that.

And it seemed that Hookmon understood that too. His face became placid but there was tears forming in his eyes. His body shook as he raised his cannon hand towards the four Koemon. The cannon were pointed at a point-blanc range from the Koemon. The four Koemon huddled close to one another and gave one last look towards their respectful captain before their eyes turned completely into bright crimson – the sign of a complete infection of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes.

"CAPTAIN...CANNON!"

All others except Hookmon closed their eyes in horror as Hookmon summoned loudly his trademark attack. The cannonball, which knew no mercy, blasted out from Hookmon's cannon and immediately claimed the lives of the four Koemon at one go. Without any sound, the four loyal crews of Hookmon combusted into data particles. Hookmon then watched as their data particles floated over the air towards the sky, and collapsed onto the deck as he began to sob silently.

"Forgive me...my loyal crew..."

The DigiDestined and the Digimon were stunned with the sight they were forced to watch. They had just seen the cruelty of the Curse of the Crimson Eyes; how it had claimed the lives of four innocent Digimon. Mermaidmon wept bitterly, and the DigiDestined all were too horrified to even come up with a response. A mixed feeling of shock, anger and sorrow overwhelmed all four of them.

For Wizardmon, it brought up painful memories and he was the first one to hobble weakly on the deck. Memories of Impmon flooded him once more, and he let out unconstrained tears, joining Mermaidmon over the painful experience they had just seen.

Kyubimon and Dinohumon remained silent as they knelt down to comfort Wizardmon. Kyubimon and Dinohumon regressed back into their rookie forms, and surprisingly, out of sorrow, Wizardmon de-digivolved too for the first time since he first ascended into Champion...becoming Demidevimon once more.

Darien, awkward as it might have been at the moment, tried to comfort the weeping Mermaidmon. He managed to compose himself in order not to make the younger children feel sad as well. Kira, Jon and Kanto watched the tragedy with mouths wide-opened...they were too young to first absorb the harsh reality of what had just happened. They all had their fair share in deleting possessed Digimon and evil Digimon (that being only Phelesmon and IceDevimon to date), but this was a completely different case. Hookmon was forced to kill his own crew, his inferior whom he treated with care despite his attempted rough attitude; it was the same as forcing a parent to kill a child in one way or another. The Koemon looked up to Hookmon, in nearly the same way as a child looked up to his or her parents. In the ship, they were family.

Kira walked silently towards Jon and Kanto, approaching them from behind. She slid herself in between the two boys, and held their hands tightly. Both Jon and Kanto looked over their shoulders into the sorrowful eyes of the girl behind them.

"I'm so sorry..." Kira whispered sincerely, tears threatening to spill from her dark eyes.

Jon managed to muster a slight smile, and nodded. "It's alright..."

Kanto hesitated briefly, sorrow evident from his violet eyes as well due to a recollection he was having about the incident with Impmon and Demidevimon, but finally he nodded and grasped Kira's and Jon's hands. "Let's just forget about it."

The three younger DigiDestined then embraced each other in a group hug, finally settling their differences amidst the sorrowful atmosphere. While comforting Mermaidmon, Darien saw everything and felt a slight relief.

As if feeling the tension, some of the other crew of the ship began to appear from the stairs. All of them knew what had just happened to their fallen mates, and all went to comfort their captain, who seemed to be withdrawing himself out of sorrow and grief. Nineteen Koemon, excluding the Koemon whom had befriended the DigiDestined, surrounded their captain and grieved over their lost friends.

Max, carrying Koromon and Tsunomon on his arms, scanned the whole surrounding and eyed his other fellow DigiDestined. He didn't quite grasp of what had just happened, but he could feel a certain tragedy had happened, judging by everyone's behavior. Behind him were Agumon, Gabumon, the Burgermon family, and the Koemon they had befriended. The Koemon quickly joined his fellow crew in grieving the loss of their fellow friends, while the Burgermon family, Agumon and Gabumon chose to be with the DigiDestined.

With everyone feeling sad and poignant, there was one particular Digimon who felt the exact opposite.

It was Tylomon. He was satisfied to be able to carry out Dragomon's order, and was pleased with his work. His eyes caught on the floating data particles which floated all over the air, and came up with a dastardly plan.

"Data...delicious data particles, will be MINE for the taking!" he shouted with glee, and launched himself to claim the data.

Hookmon's head instantly shot up upon hearing the words. He felt an intense hatred towards the armor Digimon, and wanted to avenge the death of his unfortunate crew. Without thinking, he jumped over the air, determined to stop Tylomon from claiming the data of the deceased Koemon.

"You will not claim the data of my crew! Not while I'm here, you evil Digimon!" he shouted, full of will and determination. "I will not allow you to do it!"

Then, something unexpected happened.

A mysterious golden light shot out from the lower deck, up towards the stairs and engulfed Hookmon in its sheer brilliance. As Hookmon leapt over the air, the golden light energized him with raw power, which coursed all over his body. His humanoid body elongated into a sleek, serpentine feature as a sudden urge and knowledge filled his mind – telling him that it was time to take one step further. It was time to digivolve.

"**_HOOKMON, DIGIVOLVE TO..._" **

When the golden lights dissipated, Hookmon was no more. Instead, there was a gigantic crimson serpent with blue stripes adorning his scales, which was red on the anterior part all the way from the fins up to the tail. The underbelly of the Digimon was protected with hard, ivory scales. He wore a shining golden helmet, carved to perfectly fit his head, with green hairs sprouting out from the helmet. Finally, a zigzagged horn jutted out from his helmeted forehead, and lightning erupted from the horn towards all parts of his long body. His blue eyes gleamed with hatred towards Tylomon as he completed his transformation, ready to announce his new name towards the world.

"_**...MEGASEADRAMON!"**_

The colossal MegaSeadramon instantly dwarfed Tylomon as he loomed towards the latter, determined to stop the armor Digimon from absorbing the data particles of his fallen crew. His silvery horn crackled with bluish-white electricity and he directed the horn towards Tylomon.

"Thunder Javelin!"

A deafening thunder boomed over the atmosphere as lightning shot out from MegaSeadramon's horn towards Tylomon. The armor Digimon, being wet, was brutally electrocuted by the lightning, and he screamed in agony before his data began to separate from his body. MegaSeadramon fired another shot of his Thunder Javelin, and the second shot caused Tylomon to explode instantly, his data particles floating all over the air along with the fallen Koemon's data. While the Koemon's data particles were blue, Tylomon's were red – a sign of data corruption. All data particles then floated towards the sky and disappeared among the thin clouds.

MegaSeadramon glided over the Bane Buccaneer and in a flash of yellow light, reverted back to Hookmon once more.

"It's over," he said silently, staggering on his feet. "The death of my crew is avenged."

* * *

Dragomon watched the whole ordeal with great interest, and profound anger. He was infuriated over the loss of his two servants, whom he had used his own power to create. While they managed to cause the deletion of four of Hookmon's crew, Dragomon felt that it was not worthwhile. Although, he was also mildly satisfied, because it would give Hookmon a painful lesson for turning his back against him, just like Dragomon had intended to do.

His interest was derived from the fact that Hookmon had somehow acquired the ability to digivolve. He was a champion level Digimon...when he digivolved he would become an ultimate level Digimon. The mysterious golden light was the source of Hookmon's sudden transformation, and Dragomon knew exactly what was it. It was the thing he was seeking after for so long. It was the artifact Hookmon was supposed to deliver to him.

"It is Huanlongmon's Golden Digicore," he said. "How Hookmon managed to utilize its power is beyond me...but I do not care. I must have it now."

Suddenly the viewing orb glowed, signaling an incoming transmission. The scene inside the orb shifted, revealing a cloaked figure in blue. The face was hidden beneath the darkness emanated within the cloak.

"_Greetings, Dragomon."_

Dragomon was flustered a little upon seeing the being inside the orb. "The Dark One! To what...do I owe the honor?"

The Dark One snorted. _"Your recent exploit against the DigiDestined...or should I say, against your former lackey – that pirate Hookmon – has failed, Dragomon! This is unacceptable. I gave you specific order earlier this day to attack the DigiDestined, not to settle your own personal vendetta or to obtain something of your own personal gain. While you did attack the DigiDestined indirectly, your focus had been targeted towards Hookmon."_

"I am sorry, Dark One," said Dragomon in reverence. "I shall not fail you again."

"_The next time you want to send minions...use your brain and send in somebody stronger than just merely champion and armor level Digimon. The DigiDestined currently have one Ultimate at their disposal, and are in the company of another ultimate Digimon – Mermaidmon – and Hookmon, who to my understanding, is able to digivolve into ultimate level as well."_

"Yes, Dark One. I shall send in an ultimate level Digimon to fight the DigiDestined."

"_That is good...but I have another mission for you for now. Take care of that Mermaidmon first. She knows too much of what is currently happening on Server, and I am sure that she will pass the information to the DigiDestined. It is imperative that she is stopped before being able to do so, and even if she has told the DigiDestined about it I still want her to be killed. She should be taught a lesson for interfering with matters which should not concern her."_

"Understood. I will make sure that she will be deleted. And what of the DigiDestined...?"

"_Do as you like, but I am giving you only until the time when the sun sets tomorrow for you to accomplish both tasks I have set for you. Do not fail me, Dragomon. I am expecting you to be successful...no matter what the cost it takes from you."_

The transmission died out, leaving Dragomon to ponder on his next plan to ensure that the Dark One's order was carried out properly.

Dragomon thought that something was off from his conversation with the Dark One.

It seemed like the Dark One was provoking Dragomon himself to attack the DigiDestined, and Mermaidmon. Dragomon wondered what information Mermaidmon could have possibly obtained, which made the Dark One so eager to have her deleted?

Unfortunately, it wasn't Dragomon's place to ask questions. The Dark One was the most superior Legion; and all others were expected to obey to his every command.

With that, he began plotting his next plan.

* * *

After a few hours of grieving, the DigiDestined decided that it was time for Hookmon and Mermaidmon to explain something to them. They wanted to know about Hookmon's unexpected digivolution, while Mermaidmon had told them earlier that she had something imperative to tell the DigiDestined.

Hookmon was sitting on one of the bench, letting two Koemon in charge of maneuvering the navigation wheel, which he had repaired as soon as the fight with Tylomon was over. Luckily only half of the wheel was damaged, and it could be fixed simply with using woods and metals to replace the missing parts. Now that the navigation wheel was up and running, it left Hookmon free to entertain his thoughts.

Mermaidmon in the meantime, was by herself at the portboard side of the ship. She was watching the sun, which had begun to set at the west horizon. She seemed to be lost in deep thoughts, obviously still grieved of the misfortune which had happened. It also seemed that she had forgotten that she had something to tell the DigiDestined, like she had said earlier that day when they escaped Poseidon Gate.

But before anybody could interrupt the two Digimon, a loud cry from a Koemon – who was standing on the ship's bowsprit with a binocular in his hands – interrupted every one of them, even snapping Hookmon and Mermaidmon out of their thoughts.

"Land ho! Island detected ahead...and there seems to be a _lot_ of Digimon going towards the island as well!"

Everyone quickly rushed towards the vessel's prow, where the bowsprit was, and looked ahead.

Up ahead, approximately an hour journey; was an island. Lush greenery spread around a tall mountain at the center of the island. Amidst the greenery there were spots of blacks, whites, yellows and blues around it, marking different regions of the island.

Just looking at the island gave everyone a feeling of deja-vu. The island ahead really resembled Database Island a great deal. The only difference was the fact that the island seemed to be larger if compared to Database Island...but nobody could tell that for sure.

What made the island much more peculiar was the fact that a huge number of Digimon gathering around the island. Flying and marine Digimon seemed to be the majority of the lot, but upon closer observation there seemed to be a number of land-based Digimon on top of the marine and flying Digimon. Most of the Digimon were that of Airdramon and of Whamon species.

Those Digimon were the ones that had evacuated Database Island after the mass destruction caused by Phelesmon.

If they were there, it could only mean one thing. The island up ahead was the island where all of them were heading.

It was the File Island.

Finally, they had arrived.

* * *

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**Author's Note:**

This chapter is longer than I have intended for it to be. I was planning to keep it to the length Chapters 18 and 19 have, but I also wanted for them to reach File Island on chapter 20. Hookmon's canon evolution so far has been Armormon/Assaultmon, according to the Digimon World 3 game, but there is nothing stated in Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia about the true evolution for Hookmon. So, after long consideration I've decided not to use Armormon but instead, introduce MegaSeadramon.

Thanks for all the reviews, everyone. Keep on sending 'em!

**_Digital Gaurdian_** – Hey, you've changed your name, Isadora. I almost didn't recognize you. Thanks for the review.

**_NeoGenesses_** – A new reviewer! Thanks for the review.

**_Roby Murphy_** – I hope you'll like this chapter as well. Thanks for reviewing.

**_dark672_** – A new reviewer! I'm glad you like that part. I'll let you know that it's one of the hardest parts I have to write, as I'm still learning on writing about human emotions and relationships.

**_Jack the ripper_** – Of course I remember you. I never forget my reviewers (except if they change their names). As for your questions, I'll try to answer while being discreet at the same time...I don't want to divulge the whole plot just yet.

1 – They will DNA Digivolve again when it is required for them to do so.

2 – Everyone will achieve their ultimate level, be it via DNA Digivolving, Dark Digivolving or Normal Digivolving.

3 – Yes, Dark One's identity will be revealed, but it will be a long way before we know who he is. For the time being he will always be this shadowy character, but be aware of the clues being dropped from time to time.

4 – Of course. It's no problem.

5 – The Golden Digicore will play a huge part in the story, for both DigiDestined and Digimon, as shown in this chapter.

(Smiles) Thanks for your support.


	21. Welcome to File Island

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 21 – Welcome to File Island_**

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The sun had set over the horizon, marking the end of yet another day for the inhabitants of File Island.

Usually, the island would just fall into deep silence during nightfall, as there were not many Digimon living on the island.

However the same could not be said for that particular day, when the occupants of the island found Digimon mysteriously appearing from the horizon. All of the Digimon were converging towards one common destination: the shores of the island. What made it more peculiar was the fact that nearly all the Digimon – marine or airborne – appeared at approximately the same time; just as the sun was about to set. Against the setting sun over the reddish blue sky, it was truly a sight to behold. An exodus of Digimon from out of nowhere, and they were about to step foot on File Island.

Curious, the occupants of the island sent two representatives to have a look at the situation.

Thus, two Digimon headed quickly towards the beach. One of them was a tall, humanoid Digimon clad in metallic armor – an android, while another was a horse-like creature, with light grey fur, a small black pair of wings, and a red head mask with a horn jutted out from the Digimon's forehead. It was actually a unicorn; a winged one to be precise.

"It looks like a mass departure of Digimon from somewhere," said the unicorn, eyeing the crowd uncertainly.

"Look at all the Whamon and Airdramon," the android responded with a mechanical male voice. "All of them seem to be carrying smaller Digimon on them."

"This is really curious, Andromon," the unicorn said. "File Island has never been the center of attraction of the Digital World. What makes them come here?"

The Digimon known as Andromon shrugged. "Well Unimon, we'll never know until we ask them. Let's start with that Airdramon."

Andromon pointed towards an Airdramon who was about to land on the shore. He held up a hand, making the greenish-blue dragon stop in midair. Unimon then flapped his ragged wings and flew up towards Airdramon's eye level.

"Please state the reason of why you and all the other Digimon are here on our island," Unimon requested, maintaining a safe distance from Airdramon's intimidating maw. "It's not a usual occurrence for us to have so many visitors."

Airdramon merely shrugged, and an Elecmon stepped up onto Airdramon's head to speak on his behalf.

"Greetings," greeted Elecmon politely. He then turned behind, beckoning towards the crowd of Digimon which begun to gather behind Airdramon. "All of us are the occupants of the now-destroyed Database Island. Surely you have heard of it? Lord Omnimon told us to come here to seek refuge, as we no longer have a place to stay. Our island was destroyed by Boogeymon, one of the Legion of Darkness."

The unicorn exchanged a meaningful look with his android companion, silently contemplating Elecmon's words in their minds. Nodding silently, Andromon and Unimon turned back to face their guests.

"We have heard of the Legion known as Boogeymon taking residence at the Database Island," said Andromon finally. "What happened to him?"

"The last time we know, both Lord Omnimon and the DigiDestined were in a fight with that demon," replied Elecmon.

"Any words from them whether they are victorious or not?" inquired Andromon with absolute interest.

Elecmon shook his head. "No. All of us left before the fight takes place, under the order of Lord Omnimon himself. He had used a portion of his power to make some of the Digimon on our island digivolve into these Airdramon and Whamon you are seeing now, as a mode of transportation for our migration here. He said that this island is the nearest place we could find to seek sanctuary."

"We have been traveling for one whole day now, ever since early this morning without stop," Airdramon quipped, his voice sounded remarkably tired. "I don't feel really good...it's like I'm too tired and too hungry to do anything else."

Unimon landed back beside Andromon and the two exchanged another contemplating look. While Andromon looked willing enough to accept the newcomers, Unimon appeared to hesitate. They excused themselves momentarily to discuss the matter, and went out of Airdramon and Elecmon's earshot. The visitors could only heard some bits of what seemed to be a mild argument exchanged between the two natives of the island.

"...they have come far..."

"...the other leaders...hear about this as well..."

"...we both know...holds the final decision around here..."

"...fine..."

A satisfied looking Andromon and a placid Unimon then re-approached Airdramon and Unimon again. Both outsiders silently hoped that the natives would agree to take them in, and were assured when Andromon gave them an assuring smile.

"All of you are welcomed here on File Island, but we will need to discuss this matter with the other village leaders of this island," said Unimon evenly.

"We are positive that we will achieve an understanding in this matter," assured Andromon. "So do not worry. But I'd advise strongly not to approach the Infinity Mountain for the time being...at least, until we reach an agreement whether to accommodate all of you or not. The mountain will be the place where the leaders of the island will hold a council to discuss this matter. I'm however confident that we can make room for all of you."

"Thank you," both Elecmon and Airdramon said gratefully.

Airdramon then quickly landed on the sandy beach, careful not to drop the Digimon and a few Digi-eggs he was carrying on his back. The lights encasing his occupants disappeared in a flash, and just as his foot stepped on the ground his body began to emit faint green light as well. Without warning, the great dragon shrunk and three small forms appeared instead. They were Nyaromon, Gummymon and Tanemon, the three in-training Digimon who made up Airdramon with a power boost from Omnimon the day before.

"Oh wow! I'm beat!" Gummymon declared weakly.

"You can say that again," Nyaromon muttered irritably, watching as Elecmon and the others stumbled on the sand with a soft thud.

"Oops...sorry about that, Elecmon," said Tanemon apologetically. "Guess we don't have much control over our powers."

Elecmon was about to reply, when he saw the same phenomena were about to happen with all the other Airdramon and Whamon that had digivolved from Digimon of lesser forms. Quickly he shouted out for them to come close to the shore, as their bodies glowed with faint green and blue lights respectively. Some of the Airdramon made it to the beach, and de-digivolved back into three to four in-training or rookie Digimon each. Unfortunately, all the Whamon and several Airdramon were not as lucky as they regressed before reaching the shore, sending themselves and their occupants into the clear waters of the sea. A few, bigger rookie or champion Digimon managed to waddle themselves towards the shore, carrying with them smaller in-training Digimon.

"It looks like you will need some help," Andromon noted, and whistled loudly.

In response of Andromon's whistle, a school of dolphin-like Digimon emerged from the back of the island. Those dolphins were known as the Dolphmon, and they helped out greatly with the smaller Digimon and those who could not swim by carrying them over their back towards the shore. Then, just to make sure that they had not missed anyone, the Dolphmon submerged into the water and did some thorough inspection, founding a few Digimon who had sunk under the water and pulled them out quickly.

The seashores of the island were getting too crowded with Digimon, who all began to look for their friends and kin. It was quite a commotion, which caused Unimon to leave, saying that he would gather all the leaders of the island and told Andromon to be prompt in attending the meeting. Andromon assured his unicorn friend that he would.

"...just as soon as I've finished getting acquainted with our guests here," said Andromon.

"Fine," Unimon huffed, and left.

Elecmon looked up to the metallic Digimon. "What's with him?"

"It's nothing much really. Unimon is just a stickler to rules and traditions, but he really is a good ally and friend," replied Andromon with a mechanical hum which curiously sounded like a muffled laugh.

"Oooh...lookie! A ship!" A squeaky voice, presumably an In-training's, exclaimed suddenly.

Andromon and Elecmon diverted their attentions immediately towards the horizon, where they assumed would be the perfect place to see an incoming vessel. True enough, there was a ship not very far from the island and it was also approaching the island. It was a great black vessel, but the sight of the black flag which flapped over the breeze was unsettling to most Digimon.

"A pirate ship!" Andromon exclaimed, shocked.

"No, wait," intercepted Elecmon suddenly. "There was a pirate Digimon on our island yesterday. A Hookmon, claiming that he's the captain of a fine ship called a Bane...something; I must have forgotten the name. However he said to me yesterday that he wanted to meet the DigiDestined. I am sure that he is friends with them. Perhaps he's bringing them here."

Andromon relaxed instantly. "I wish Unimon hadn't taken off just now...he'd be able to fly over there and take a good look of the pirates."

"It looks like it's coming here anyway," said Elecmon. "Maybe we just ought to wait."

The galleon drew nearer, and stopped just near the coastline. Then, a small rowboat descended from the ship's deck towards the surface of the shallow waters near the island. Inside the rowboat Andromon could see a pirate Digimon, whom he assumed to be Hookmon judging from his hooked hand, in the company of five humans in an assortment of multicolored garments. Now, Andromon did not really know that they were humans, but his programs had mentioned of himself as a humanoid Digimon, and Andromon had seen his fair share of humanoid Digimon to know how humans would look like. His sharp visions then observed the five Digimon which seemed to be accompanying the five humans. Two in-training and three rookie Digimon, hardly a threat should they decided to attack him, Andromon decided silently. An Agumon and a Gabumon were seen too, as well as a Leomon, holding an Otamamon with him, and an Ogremon; but they didn't look like they belonged to anyone. Beside the rowboat, a Digimon whom Andromon recognized as a Mermaidmon was swimming along. Four rookie level Koemon were seen rowing the boat silently, and Andromon was puzzled to see the solemn and saddened expressions on all the faces inside the rowboat.

Andromon then composed himself as the rowboat approached the shore, ready to welcome the newcomers.

"Welcome all to File Island," he greeted. "I am Andromon, one of the leaders of File Island. Please, introduce yourselves."

Hookmon bowed slightly and seemed to be taking a while to gather himself before he spoke formally. "Greetings, Andromon. I am Hookmon, and in my company are the DigiDestined - Max, Darien, Kira, Jon and Kanto – and their partners in respective order – Koromon, Tsunomon, Renamon, Kotemon and Demidevimon. Mermaidmon is the one who accompanied us here, and Agumon and Gabumon here are what remain of the mighty Omnimon."

"Oh stop," Gabumon quickly said. Agumon merely chuckled lightly.

Andromon looked placidly towards the two aforementioned rookie Digimon, his organic eyes seemed to bear a reflection of disbelief. But he seemed to accept Hookmon's explanation without any questions asked.

"And what about us? Don't we get a proper introduction as well?" Ogremon demanded.

"There's no need for that...I already recognize you three. Ogremon, Leomon, and Otamamon, am I wrong?" Andromon inquired.

Ogremon muttered something incomprehensible and just scowled. Leomon decided to answer on their behalf.

"Not at all," said Leomon. "Just try to ignore Ogremon here...he tends to get annoyed rather easily."

The DigiDestined and their Digimon then greeted Andromon, somewhat dully despite the forced enthusiasm. Andromon was puzzled upon seeing the rather gloomy looks on the DigiDestined and their partners, and Hookmon too for that matter. The others seemed to be able to hide their despair rather well, although there was no mistaking that they were quite unhappy. Andromon wondered about what had happened, and was glad when one of the DigiDestined – the one with brownish-red hair – stepped up to explain everything on their behalf. However, Elecmon cut him in quickly and bombarded him with questions about their fight with Phelesmon.

"DigiDestined! Thank the sovereigns all of you're all right! What happened? Did you win the fight against that Boogeymon...or is it Phelesmon?"

Max eyed Elecmon for a while before recognizing him. "You used to be Tokomon, right?"

"Yeah, and now I've digivolved into Elecmon!"

"Good for you, Tokomon. As for your questions; yeah, we won the fight." He then gave a brief account of the fight with Phelesmon.

Max seemed to be the least affected among the bunch, probably because he wasn't there when the cruel events played up on the upper deck. After finishing with the details of the fight with Phelesmon, he proceeded with an explanation of what had been related to him by the others about the dreadful event on the ship earlier that day. Andromon then felt remorse upon hearing the forced deed Hookmon had to endure in order to save his possessed crew from the Curse of the Crimson Eyes' eternal bondage.

"That was awful," Andromon remarked slowly. "But, I am sure that they will be reconfigured very soon."

This perked both Leomon and Elecmon's interest. Hookmon's expression brightened slightly upon hearing Andromon's assurance.

"Is there a Primary Village here?" Leomon inquired.

Elecmon smiled happily. "Finally, the babies will have a place to stay."

Andromon nodded. "Yes...but not for now. The leaders will be having a meeting to discuss about accepting all of you into the island. I am sure that there will be no problems, but there are some who claimed this island as theirs, and to convince them will be quite a difficult task. Besides, the Digimon here will definitely be shocked to see some new faces without being warned, as everyone here know each other. Stay close towards the shore for the time being; I will dispatch some fire-type Digimon to keep you warm, as well as getting you some refreshments."

"Oh..." Elecmon said, sounding pretty disappointed. "I guess that will just have to do for now."

"Do not worry, I will try to keep the discussion very short," said Andromon. "I must excuse myself, as I'm sure the leaders are currently waiting for me. However I will need to bring some representatives from all of you to present your cause."

All of them contemplated over the matter for a while, but it didn't take long for all of them to reach a mutual agreement.

Agumon and Gabumon, formerly Omnimon, would be their greatest chance to make the leaders agree on accepting the Digimon of Database Islands.

Hookmon, as the captain of the Bane Buccaneer, and Mermaidmon, would go as well.

Leomon, former caretaker of the Primary Village on Database Island, knew most Digimon of the destroyed island well, and would be able to roughly describe the Digimon there for leaders. He then suggested to get Centaurumon to come with them as well, as the centaur was a leader of a prominent village on Database Island.

And finally, a pair from the DigiDestined-Digimon partner would be selected.

"You go," said Darien, ushering Max and Koromon forward. "You're the leader."

"Me? Whoever said _I_ was the leader?" Max snapped back.

"Well...technically you're the one amongst the five of us who's been in this world the longest, so that makes you leader," Jon reasoned.

"But..."

"Here," said Darien impatiently, unclasping the goggles he was wearing on his head and placed it on Max's head, just on top of the blue headband the older boy was wearing. "I hereby appoint you, leader of the DigiDestined! There's no sword for the anointment, so the goggles will just have to do for now," he said dramatically, while Max stared at him incredulously.

"I can get Kotemon to digivolve into Dinohumon if you really need a sword, Darien," Jon quipped, with a smile that began to form on his face.

The humorous remarks from Darien and Jon managed to bring a smile to everyone, and eventually the DigiDestined (sans Max, who was blushing with embarrassment) roared into laughter.

Kira tilted her head slightly, her eyes set on eyeing the goggles on Max's head critically.

"You know, the goggles do look good on you. I can never understand what Darien sees on them when it was he who wears the goggles...the black colors of the goggles just doesn't compliment his already dark hair. On the other hand, they look quite striking against your lighter, reddish-brown hair color, along with that red headband, is just what the goggles need to make them stand out," she pointed out, rather matter-of-factly, as if it was a general knowledge everyone should know. "But, something's still missing. Hmm... can I take a look on that headband for a while, Max?"

Both Max and Darien sweatdropped upon the offhanded comment. Jon chuckled slightly, while Kanto's expression was best described as puzzled. Max took off his headband and the goggles, and handed it over to Kira. The girl took it gingerly and grinned.

"Just as I've thought," she said, and flipped the inner sides of the headband towards the outside. "A double sided headband, with blue color on the inside. Here, try this on." She handed the now-blue headband on Max.

The older teen wore the headband once more, and placed the black goggles on place. He looked towards his younger peers uncertainly.

"Perfect!" Kira squealed delightfully. "Red, blue and black...you look great! What do you guys think...Jon? Kanto? Darien?"

"Well, yeah...it looks good alright," Kanto said hastily. "But I'm not the one you should ask about this matter. My fashion sucks."

"You do look more..._vibrant_," said Jon sheepishly. "I don't know how else to describe it. But believe me, it's a good thing."

Darien smiled. "Well what do you know...Kira's fashion tip actually work! You really look like a born-leader, bro. Maybe we should make this a fashion statement – all leaders should wear goggles. What do you think?"

This was met with laughter from the four DigiDestined. Max however was silent, but he was beaming.

_They're really are accepting me. I won't let them down,_ he thought silently.

Finally he nodded, with a smile. "Alright guys, I'll do it."

Darien flashed a thumbs-up. "Great! Go to the leaders and convince them to take all of us in now, will you?"

"Right," said Max, and looked down towards Koromon. "You ready, Koromon?"

The pink ball of a Digimon hopped exuberantly. "Yeah, yeah, let's do it Max!"

The teen then picked up his in-training partner, and told Andromon that he would go in behalf of all the DigiDestined.

"Excellent. Now, those who have agreed to come; follow me," directed Andromon, and he walked away into the forests. He was followed closely by Hookmon and Mermaidmon, with Agumon, Gabumon, Leomon and Centaurumon behind them. Max and Koromon were the last in line.

* * *

Dragomon once more was in deep thought, thinking that he had just been reduced of five loyal Scubamon. Two had been used to create Gesomon, and it was simply destroyed by the DigiDestined and Hookmon. Another three were used as experimentation; Dragomon had exploited them to form a stronger armor Digimon called Tylomon. Tylomon did give the Digimon a thorough beating, as well as successfully rid Hookmon of four crew. That would have been a huge blow for the pirate Digimon, especially since the pirate himself who was forced into killing them.

Tylomon hadn't been a waste after all. While not being able to destroy Hookmon or the DigiDestined, he had weakened their spirits and morale greatly. Dragomon concluded that what he'd need to do in order to have better results was to send a stronger Digimon.

An Ultimate, perhaps, would be able to perform the task admirably. Five Scubamon would be needed to create just one ultimate Digimon, and Dragomon already had a scheme plotted out in his mind.

He wouldn't waste any of his loyal Scubamon anymore.

Instead, he would call on the ones which had left him for IceDevimon sometime ago. They were eager to earn Dragomon's forgiveness. This was the best chance they could have, Dragomon mused.

However that would only be a part of his plan.

He would call on fifteen Scubamon, and would utilize his resources and the bumbling Digimon to make three strong Ultimates. Not as strong as himself, of course, but they should be able to fight better than Tylomon or Gesomon.

Dragomon had only until sunset tomorrow to accomplish what he had in mind. Or, to put it more correctly, what the Dark One had in mind. The highest ranking Legion was getting incredibly persistent with Dragomon in getting the job done. Dragomon supposed that the Dark One would have a valid reason in wanting the DigiDestined trounced, but wondered what this Mermaidmon could have done to anger the Dark One so much up to the point of he wanted her deletion?

If anyone should be angry of Mermaidmon...it was the Niximon clan. The mermaid had thwarted them twice to save Hookmon's ship.

A thought crossed Dragomon's mind.

It was incredibly brilliant... despite his intelligence he was still surprised to come up with such a devious plan. A foolproof plan, and would be practical and useful in his effort to rise in the ranks of the hierarchs of the Legion of Darkness.

An alliance with the Niximon clan would do Dragomon a lot of good. Dragomon hadn't been interested in those water-dwelling sprites before, but in his current situation he saw the opening, and the advantages, in having the Niximon as his allies.

The Niximon would, by the time Dragomon had thought of this plan, infuriated by Mermaidmon's interference. While they were not known as those who would pursue their enemies outside the safety of their cave, Dragomon firmly believed that should they be given an opening, the Niximon would do that. Dragomon would offer the Niximon his assistance to delete Mermaidmon, and perhaps some Digimon for them to possess should they insist. In return, they were expected to assist him in the battle with the DigiDestined.

That was, of course, if the Niximon would be agreeing with him. But as the master of the undersea, there was virtually nothing that Dragomon could not do. Persuading some water sprites should be easy.

Dragomon then reanalyzed his plans carefully, not wanting some careless mistakes to dissuade his goal. Finally satisfied with his plan, he began to align his course of action in his timed task. It was foolproof.

The undersea master felt genuinely pleased with himself. If everything worked to his favor, he would be rising up the hierarchs of the Legion of Darkness in no time. Everyone would be able to see what Dragomon was capable of.

And the best part was, Dragomon would only need less than one day to make it all happen. The time limit given by the Dark One was more than apt.

With the plans in mind, it was time for Dragomon to make some proposals.

* * *

There were six main leaders of the File Island in total.

Over the eastern part of the island, a small village made out of large toys as its main structure stood by. The name of this village, for lack of creativity in name inventing, was Toy Town. It was governed by a peaceful Monzaemon, a teddy-bear like ultimate level Digimon. Most Digimon living here were that of rookie level or younger, as their leader was one who loved the company of youngsters.

The western side was known as the darker side of the village, which was a favorite haunting for viral Digimon or any ghost types. Hardly any vaccine or data Digimon dared to step foot there, although while the ones living there won't harm anybody if not provoked. An elderly Bakemon, larger than any normal Bakemon, was put in charge there. He was a recluse, preferring the company only of those with the same type as he was. However, this fact did not deter him in treating others unfairly; a quality of a good leader, despite specific preference.

The mountains were the place with the least occupants, as most Digimon preferred to live on the lower land. However as any other places on this island, the mountains too need somebody to claim authority there. Unimon was the one, a solitary Digimon who preferred to be on his own, but was shouldered with the responsibility to watch over the mountain community – a job he accepted without questions, and did rather admirably.

The underground level of the island, which was a sewer, was inhabited mainly by a community of sludge-like Digimon called Numemon. One of them was picked to be the leader, and was in attendance to the meeting. The Numemon species were generally shunned by other Digimon for their seemingly disgusting features, but that didn't discourage their spirit of hoping for a better treatment.

The lakes and the watery regions of the island were connected to each other and to the sea, and at some places they were quite deep. Here dwelled Seadramon, the one who was selected by most marine Digimon to lead them. Not the one with words, Seadramon took the liability to watch over the sea surrounding the File Island as well as the lakes and the rivers.

And finally, there was Andromon, who led a community of mechanical type Digimon – the strongest one among all of them. He and his subjects lived mainly inside an abandoned factory located far north. While their base was the factory, as the head chief Andromon and his followers took the burden of watching out the forests region as well.

The meeting between the leaders was held at the foot of the tallest mountain of the island, which was called the Infinity Mountain. It was a place which resembled Primary Village greatly, judging from the toy blocks scattered all over the area. However the land was still covered by either grass or soot instead of the soft, colorful, carpeted grounds of the Primary Village.

The representatives of the Database Island's occupants were each required to explain briefly on the reason why they wanted to stay on File Island. Each presented nearly the same story and immediately gained the attentions of the leaders, who were moved when were told that the Database Island was destroyed by a Legion of Darkness within one night.

It didn't seem like Max was required to make any speech on behalf of his fellow DigiDestined, until the attentions of the leaders all focused on him. Leomon nudged him to introduce himself, and after a moment of gathering himself Max explained to them that he and his friends were selected to be DigiDestined to help save the Digital World from the Legion of Darkness, and the curse it had brought with it. Instantly, the leaders roared with surprise, of having what they called the 'destined warriors' on their island.

As he excused himself, Leomon whispered to him that he'd done a great job. It was then Agumon and Gabumon's turns to make their speech, and the leaders reacted wildly upon learning that they used to be Omnimon. Everyone had heard of the magnanimous and courageous Omnimon, the warrior hand-picked by the Harmonious Ones themselves.

Hookmon and Mermaidmon kept their story short, mainly explaining their contributions to the DigiDestined, excluding the details of what had happened during the fight with Gesomon and Tylomon. Hookmon still looked grieved, but maintained a composed demeanour while Mermaidmon was calm.

After that the leaders discussed among themselves on the verdict of the meeting.

Among the leaders, Max could notice that Andromon was the one who was the most in favor to take in the Digimon of Database Island. From the start, even when they were in the beach, he seemed to be so sure that the Database Islanders would be accepted. Andromon's notion was seconded by Monzaemon, who pitied the fate of the Digimon who had lost their home; and the fact that quite a number of them were in-training and rookie levels. He expressed for the younger ones among the migrated Digimon to seek shelter in his village. The Bakemon elder, Seadramon and Numemon were pretty much indifferent – they didn't express their agreement, but did not seem to object as well. Max didn't know what to make of it. Unimon, surprisingly, agreed to take them in as well – despite his arguments with Andromon earlier.

"We have reached a mutual decision," said Andromon finally, drawing the attentions of his guests.

Everyone anticipated the final verdict of the leaders, and Max could've sworn that he just saw a hint of a smile on the android's placid expression.

Andromon continued. "As the head chief of the leaders, I and my fellow leaders would like to express our pleasure in welcoming all of you to the File Island. All areas are open for the Digimon to stay. The leaders are now ready to accept any Digimon who would like to join our clan, and should any of you would like to open a new area to live in, please consult either myself or Unimon."

Max bit his lip to suppress a snicker. _'So Andromon is the head chief. No wonder he's confident that we'd be accepted. He must be able to persuade the other leaders to take us in.'_

And so within that night, all Digimon quickly settled themselves in the island, not bothering to choose their preferred place just yet. Majority of them didn't sleep ever since leaving Database Island, and had not eaten as well. However their tiredness prevailed the hunger, and by the time the natives came up with the foods for them all of the Digimon were sprawled arbitrarily all over the island. Based on statistics gathered by Leomon and Centaurumon, it was revealed that a quarter of the Database Islanders didn't survive the mass destruction caused by Phelesmon.

* * *

"Where are you taking us, Andromon?" Max questioned, as he trudged his feet to keep up with Andromon, who was walking ahead of him.

"Just follow me," said Andromon, slowing down a little. "I'm certain that you and your companions will find the place hospitable."

It was long before midnight, but the DigiDestined were all ready to just pick a spot and lie down until morning came. But, Andromon won't have it. He insisted that there was a perfect place on the island that was suitable for them to stay in for the night. After contemplating the idea momentarily with the other DigiDestined, and hearing inputs from their partners, as well as the accompanying Digimon, Max decided that it was worth the shot.

They crossed the forest region and came to a mountain. Not the tallest one, but one of the taller ones on the islands. Andromon then directed the ones walking behind him – the DigiDestined, their partners, Agumon, Gabumon, Hookmon and Mermaidmon – around the foot of the mountain.

"Are we there yet?" Darien complained. "My feet are killing me!"

Andromon then stopped, and everyone gaped upon the sight in front of them. It was a huge double-storey manor, painted creamy yellow with blue roofs. The lack of light coming out from the window indicated that there was nobody staying there. What surprised the DigiDestined were the fact that it looked very much man-made, considering that it stood out of nowhere on an island of a different world.

"We are here," Andromon stated.

"What's this place doing here?" Kira wondered. "Is there _anybody _staying here?"

Andromon shook his head. "Apparently this place is deserted, but there seems to be nothing wrong with it. It has rooms with beds, bathrooms, a dining hall, a kitchen, and a chamber with pools of hot spring water. This mansion is here ever since our first arrival here, but nobody wants to stay here as we Digimon don't naturally fit in living in this kind of condition. We leave the house alone, but maintained the house's sanitary condition. I believe you will find this house suit your needs while you are here at this island."

"This place is huge! Way better than our new apartment back home!" Kanto declared.

"Let's check it out," Jon said eagerly.

"I'm really interested in those hot springs," said Darien with a grin.

"Well, I'll take my leave for now. I hope you will enjoy staying here for the night. Should you find yourself hungry, I believe the food supply in this mansion is abundant. Some of them need to be cooked, but there are fruits and other delicacies which I believe can be eaten straight away," said Andromon before he left the group.

The DigiDestined looked at each other before Darien broke into a grin.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" he roared, and picked Tsunomon before darting towards the door.

Everybody else sweatdropped before Jon, Kira and Kanto took off as well, with their Digimon partners following calmly from behind. That left Max, Koromon, Hookmon and Mermaidmon.

"Don't you two want to go in too?" asked Max, to Hookmon and Mermaidmon.

Hookmon shook his head. "I'll return to my ship to turn in for the night. Mermaidmon, are you coming?"

"Hmm? No...I think I'll stay here. Somebody got to watch out for these children," Mermaidmon answered, somewhat distractedly.

"Very well. Max, do you need the Burgermon family to prepare meals for all of you tonight?"

"We'll try to make do with what we have inside this mansion. Besides, I don't think any of us would want to make a trip back to the ship now."

Hookmon managed a small smile upon the comment. "Alright then. I guess I'll see all of you tomorrow then."

Max, Koromon and Mermaidmon watched as Hookmon walked away, before the redhead turned to face Mermaidmon.

"Pardon me for asking, but why..."

"Actually," Mermaidmon cut him quickly. "I stayed behind to give Hookmon some space for him to let go of his grief. The mon needed some time alone to gather his thoughts. A lot of things must be in his mind now. There's the fact that he was forced to...you know what I mean don't you? And a Digimon will always have a lot of things in mind when it first digivolves into a higher level. Besides, I believe I still have something to tell all of you. It's not really urgent, so I guess it can wait until all of you are settled in." The mermaid had a slightly troubled expression on her face while saying this.

"Oh...that. I thought you're here because Darien is here," Koromon quipped bluntly. "You seemed to enjoy teasing him back on the ship."

"Koromon!" Max admonished, but he smiled nevertheless as he observed pink blush creeping on the mermaid's cheeks.

"That, little one, is not of your concern. Let's go in..." Mermaidmon flustered, rushing towards the door.

"I guess we better," Max agreed and picked up Koromon from the ground.

Together, they entered the mansion, hearing shouts of glee coming from the rest of the DigiDestined as they inspected the house up and down.

* * *

The negotiations were successful.

The Niximon clan and Dragomon were now allies.

Fifteen products of failed experimentations, those who had betrayed Dragomon once, were now in the form of three deadly ultimate Digimon.

Now, all Dragomon had to do was to wait for the right time; The time when the DigiDestined, Hookmon and all Digimon of the File Island in general was most vulnerable. The time when nobody suspected to be attacked.

When the time came, it would be perfect for him... TO STRIKE!

* * *

- 

-

-

**Author's Notes:**

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. Keep them coming. I love to see the responses.

**_Jack the ripper_** – It was due to both reasons you have stated, and I'll explain this in the next chapter.

**_dark672, Roby Murphy_** – The battle's coming up next chapter, and the chapter after that. So stay tuned!

**_The Goggle Girl_** – (or **_Digital Gaurdian_**, or **_Isadora Quagmire12_** :P) Mermaidmon is a real Digimon, and is an equivalent for Mermaimon. I didn't realize at first that it is missing a'd' while writing that chapter when she is introduced. My bad, but I prefer Mermaidmon anyway. As for her fate...we'll have to wait and see now won't we?


	22. A Mermaid's Story

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 22 – A Mermaid's Story_**

**_-_**

It was three hours to midnight. The moon was three-quarter full that night, shining its brilliance against a dark maroon sky. The sky itself was clear, with barely minute traces of dark clouds. Stars twinkled merrily from the cosmos.

Around File Island, the sea was calm. Everything was dark, except for the faint yellow glow coming from an illuminated light from one of the windows on the Bane Buccaneer. The light was from Hookmon's private cabin.

Inside the cabin, Hookmon was still awake. He was sitting on his leather chair, against his fine wooden desk, apparently deep in thought. On his desk was the small opened wooden chest, and inside of it was the Golden Digicore of Huanlongmon placed on a small velvety cushion.

He was reflecting back to events occurring two days before. It was those days when he'd thought that nothing such as that happened to him these couple of days could happen. He had witnessed and experienced many different occurrences, but nothing could top what had he went through these two days.

Upon finding the Golden Digicore from his many plundering, Hookmon was ordered by his employer, Dragomon, to bring the artifact to him. Hookmon hadn't known of the Digicore's power, and had agreed in exchange of a hefty payment promised by the undersea master.

In order to present the Digicore to Dragomon, Hookmon had to brave the Poseidon Gate where he encountered the Niximon for the first time. His crew and he would have been killed by the Niximon if it weren't for a stranger's timely rescue. While still in the dark about his rescuer's identity, one thing Hookmon was absolutely certain was the fact that the stranger was a woman. This changed a superstition he was harboring – a pirate superstition – of the fact that female would only bring bad luck to a pirate ship.

Then, he had stopped by Database Island where he met with one of the DigiDestined of the legends. A kind, yet somewhat fiery girl – Kira – had pointed out to him that he was actually living in servitude for Dragomon, with the only different being the fact that he was paid to do so. The brief talk had got Hookmon thinking, and he realized that Kira was right. He had blatantly given his loyalty to Dragomon in exchange of gold.

Part of him still could not understand of the reason why he had easily sold himself out to a Legion of Darkness...but there was the fact that Dragomon had actually saved him from an eternal entrapment inside the Dark Whirlpool. Out of gratitude, and his interest of gold, Hookmon had worked for Dragomon, with the undersea master's promise that they would not be enslaved.

He knew now that it was actually the same thing. He had known it even before choosing to serve Dragomon, but hadn't given it much thought as he was actually benefiting from the deal. No harm was done, nobody was killed.

_Nobody, up until this day_, Hookmon thought bitterly.

Everything else after that happened too quickly in the course of one day – his assistance in saving Kira from IceDevimon's clutch, the destruction of Database Island as the result of Phelesmon's cruelty and the final deletion of Phelesmon. Hookmon then met the complete team of DigiDestined, and had offered them the comfort of his ship for them to go to File Island.

His willingness shocked himself still, but by that fateful night he had made up his mind. He would not hand the Digicore over to Dragomon, seeing just how much destruction one Legion could cause even without the great powers within the Digicore. If Phelesmon could destroy an island, there was no telling how much Dragomon could achieve with the core's aid.

Instead, he decided to assist the DigiDestined.

It seemed that his change of heart, and the change of the ship's course of direction, was detected by Dragomon, as the undersea master had not contacted him again since. Dragomon apparently had interpreted this as a mutiny against him, as evident by his action.

After encountering the Niximon once more, leading to his meeting with the one who had saved him before – Mermaidmon – everything turned into a nightmare for Hookmon. Dragomon wanted to retaliate to his betrayal, and had sent over Gesomon and Tylomon to cause trouble. Tylomon had infected four of his crew with the dreadful Curse of the Crimson Eyes, forcing Hookmon to them.

Then, the strangest thing happened. He didn't know what exactly happened, but remembered being bathed by a wave of gold light which energized him to digivolve into MegaSeadramon. His new form gave him the powers necessary for him to delete Tylomon.

Looking at the mysterious Golden Digicore, Hookmon knew that this was the reason of his digivolution somehow. There was no other explanation.

Sooner or later, he would know. As for now, the only feeling he was having was relief, because the Digicore was not in Dragomon's possession. However he also knew that it was imperative for the Digicore to be returned to its rightful owner. Hookmon had tasted just a miniscule portion of its power and already it caused him to ascend to ultimate level. If Dragomon got hold on it and was able to harness its awesome power, he could attain the power to digivolve into Mega, and became a powerful threat against the DigiDestined.

Hookmon wouldn't allow it to happen. The core had given him the power to become an ultimate level Digimon. Dragomon, with all his powers, was still an ultimate level Digimon. He would protect the Digicore and would make sure that it was returned to Huanlongmon.

Besides, he still had an unfinished business with the undersea master. Hookmon resented Dragomon for making him kill his own crew. While Tylomon was the one responsible for it, Dragomon had been the one giving Tylomon the means. The deaths of his crew would not go un-avenged.

If Dragomon wanted the Digicore so badly...then it would be one heck of a fight!

* * *

At the mansion, every DigiDestined had taken a relaxing dip inside the hot springs and had finished cleaning themselves up afterwards. Feeling refreshed and energized after a long day on the ship, all of them were ready to have a quick meal before calling it a day. Their Digimon decided to stay inside the hot springs just a little longer as they were really enjoying themselves. Renamon however finished with her bathing quickly and prowled around the large manor, checking out each and every room there. Agumon and Gabumon had excused themselves out earlier, changing their minds to seek their old friends instead of staying in the mansion.

All five DigiDestined decided that the best place to look for food would be the kitchen.

In the kitchen, which was sparkling clean and pleasantly furnished with cabinets, counters, stoves and a two-door refrigerator, everybody saw that there were a lot of food materials stocked up. Spreading out, each tried to find anything that strike them fancy.

Darien and Kira eagerly opened the upper door of the refrigerator, and cheered upon finding some beverages ranging from milk, juices, carbonated drinks and plain water. Besides that, they also found some sliced fruits, arranged nicely on a plate. Other than that there was also butter, jams and some candy bars. Opening the lower door, which was a freezer, they found some frozen food items, but closed the door instantly as those items required some cooking. And both brother and sister didn't know anything about cooking.

Jon and Kanto checked out the counter, finding bread, muffins and cookies. Kanto decided to settle for the cookies, but Jon took each food items and began examining them for any signs that wound render them inedible. To their relief, they found everything to be in good condition, ready to be eaten. They took all the bread, muffin and cookies, and asked Darien and Kira to bring over the butter and jams.

However, Max had a different idea. He had checked out the kitchen thoroughly, making sure whether the pipes and stoves were working or not. Then, he found some dry items – rice, onions, potatoes and eggs, some bottled sauces, flour, sugar, salt, spices. He had also found some cooking utensils, oil, and dishes stacked neatly inside a cupboard. Then, seeing how Darien and Kira closing the refrigerator door with expressions of slight apprehension, he darted towards it and was delighted to find frozen chicken and fish there.

Pointing towards those two, he motioned for everybody else to hear him out.

"Which would all of you like for dinner tonight; Chicken or fish? With rice of course."

Everybody else gave him a strange look.

"You can cook?" Kira asked disbelievingly.

Max sweatdropped. "Well...doesn't everybody?"

This caused everybody else to sweatdrop as well. Slowly, Kira and Darien shook their heads.

"I'll burn even water," Darien admitted sheepishly. "Never touched anything raw, or the kitchen utensils, those stuffs..."

"Count me out," Kira said apologetically. "I don't have a clue in cooking food."

"Well...if you count boiling some instant noodles as cooking..." Jon's voice trailed off. "Or making natte..."

Max tried to stifle his smile, maintaining his normal placid expression and was about to reply when he noticed that Kanto didn't say anything else. Raising an eyebrow, he turned to look at the boy.

Apparently the strawberry-blonde understood the unspoken question. "I know some basic stuff, if that what you're trying to ask. Frying eggs, sausages, nuggets, the likes... the easy stuffs," he added as an afterthought, much to Darien, Kira and Jon's dismay.

"Good enough," said Max. "You can help me. And as for the rest of you..."

Darien, Kira and Jon took a few slow steps back, towards the door.

"Oh, come on! It's not that hard. Listen, I'm gonna cook some rice here, and maybe some chicken and vegetables. All of you are gonna help out or you're not going to eat, you hear?" Max said sternly, but upon seeing their horrified expressions he almost felt like laughing.

"You can't be serious!" gasped Kira. "Cooking? I...I don't even know how."

"Then it's time for you to learn," said Max calmly. "It's a useful skill to have, especially for you, young lady. And the same goes for you two as well."

"Make me!" Darien shot back, but he was trying so hard not to grin.

Max's eyes narrowed and he pointed to the goggles which Darien gave him. "I'm leader, and I say that all of you are going to help me cook. That is final. Or...if you'd rather have bread and butter, be my guest. I'll be cooking some real dinner for the two of us and the Digimon."

Kanto snickered, while Darien, Kira and Jon pouted, realizing that they were defeated.

"Fair enough," said Darien finally. "Really, Max...when we made you leader, this isn't what we had in mind."

Max's stern expression faltered slightly upon hearing the comment, but seeing the goofy expression Darien currently had on his face he realized that the dark-haired teen was joking. Quickly he grinned.

"Well, too late for that now," he retorted back. "Now, who's up for cutting some onions?"

Nobody volunteered. Max rolled his eyes.

"Ok...since nobody volunteered...Kira."

"NOOOO!" the girl moaned. "Cutting onions? I...I don't know how. What if I cut my fingers? What if I chip a nail? What if..."

"Then, be careful," Max cut in with a smile, handing Kira a knife and motioned towards the lower cabinets where the onions were stored.

"Meany," Kira said, and stalked towards the cabinet.

Max went over to the counter and took what looked like a peeler.

"Jon, you'll peel the potatoes."

The blonde boy took the peeler without question, and proceeded by taking out a small sack of potatoes from the same cabinet where the onions were stored. He then joined Kira who had begun chopping the onions at an incredibly slow speed.

Max then turned his attention to Kanto.

"Kanto, why don't you rinse out the utensils and the vegetables before we start cooking?"

"You got it," agreed Kanto.

Both Jon and Kira immediately whirled around from the kitchen counter to face Max once more. Their faces harbored looks of dissatisfaction.

"Hey, no fair! He gets an easy one. I could have done that!" complained Kira.

"Ok...but Kanto's also going to cook the rice and eggs, right Kanto?"

Kanto considered that for a while before nodding. "Yeah, I can do that," he said, grinning. "Care to help?"

"Shutting up now," Kira muttered, and resumed with her task. Her eyes began to water, but she wasn't crying. It was the effect of the onions.

Darien saw that everybody else had been assigned some tasks, and couldn't help but wonder what his task could be. He gulped when Max finally turned to face him, a sly grin was now fixed on his face.

"I don't think I'll like what you'll be assigning me to do," Darien said nervously.

Max smirked as his eyes lingered over the refrigerator, or more specifically, the freezer. "Oh don't worry, it's a simple task really. All you have to do is just defrosting the chicken...and cut it in small pieces. My advice; better get an apron for that."

"NOOOOOOOO! This is murder!"

* * *

One hour later, everybody were done with their designated tasks and were watching as Max began to start cooking the chicken pieces, which to everyone's amusement, were badly cut by Darien. He had used a large knife specifically for cutting chicken, but was rather impatient and had wanted to finish with it as quickly as possible.

Everybody watched with interest as Max began measuring some spices and salts. He then took out a few small bowls and poured some sauce and soy-sauce into them. Adding those ingredients with what seemed like trained expertise, another fifteen minutes passed and a wonderful aroma of food spread all over the kitchen. Max then left the cooked chicken as it, and began to work on the vegetables. It seemed that he was putting less effort on cooking the vegetables, yet after a few minutes, another delicious aroma rose up from the pan where the vegetables were cooked. Everybody's mouths were practically watering upon smelling the aromas.

"I can't wait to start eating!" Darien announced.

Kanto then took out some small plates and poured the chickens and vegetables on them. He proceeded by scooping the already cooked rice inside some rice bowls. Everyone then helped out taking the dishes towards the dinner table, and soon they were joined by the Digimon.

"I smell something good!" Bearmon exclaimed delightfully. He had digivolved from Tsunomon back at the hot springs.

"Well buddy, take a seat now and let's eat together," Darien said, motioning for the seat beside him. Strangely, the dinner table was so large, it could fit twelve people. It was perfect, as there were five of the DigiDestined, five Digimon, and Mermaidmon.

Mermaidmon took a seat which was on Darien's other side. She flung her hand around the dark-haired boy's shoulders affectionately, causing Darien to blush and sweatdrop upon the sudden attention.

"So...did you make all these?" she asked in a sultry tone.

"Uh...I helped, a little."

Renamon eyed the dishes with interest, taking a seat beside Kira. "They smell wonderful. I've never seen, or smelled anything like them before."

Kotemon hopped on beside Jon, and discarded his helmet. Underneath was a yellow-eyed, dark blue skinned dinosaur. He examined the rice bowl and the rice inside of it with a strange look. "What are these little white stuffs inside the bowl, Jon?"

Jon smiled. "It's rice...our staple food back home on Earth."

"And these two thin sticks and these other two metallic stuffs?"

"They're chopsticks, spoon and fork. We usually use chopsticks to eat the rice and the dishes. But if it's difficult for you, you can use the fork and spoon."

Everybody then took their places and began eating. While the DigiDestined practically wolfed down their food (with the exception of Kira, who tried so hard to maintain some politesse) the Digimon seemed to be fascinated with the dishes prepared by the DigiDestined, and were taking their time.

Mermaidmon took a bite on a chicken drumstick, and complimented that it was delicious. Max beamed on that, but faltered upon hearing her question.

"This is delicious...but I wonder what this white stick inside this food is? Is it meant for decoration, or is it edible?"

"It's a bone," Renamon answered matter-of-factly, without looking up from her rice bowl.

Mermaidmon suddenly looked green on the face. "You mean this thing used to be an _animal_?"

"Never complain when you are hungry," said ToyAgumon cheerfully, oblivious of the fact that everybody was also wondering how a toy like him managed to eat some organic food. However nobody bothered to ask the colorful dino about it.

"Is that a bad thing?" Max asked, but suddenly he got the idea of what Mermaidmon was insinuating. "Oh! I'm sorry...are you..."

His unfinished question was answered as Mermaidmon bolted from her seat towards the kitchen sink, and everybody sweatdropped upon hearing what sounded suspiciously like a person vomiting from there, followed by the sounds of running tap water. Max looked worried and scandalized at the same time, but when Mermaidmon returned to her seat she had on an apologetic look.

"I don't eat meat," she said simply. "I'm sorry if I have insulted you."

"I'm sorry...are you a vegetarian?" Max asked. "If that's so, then you can still have the rice and the vegetables because there are no meats inside."

"If you meant that I don't eat meat, then yes," answered Mermaidmon, and helped herself with the non-meat foods.

After finishing with their meal, everybody leaned against their chair contently. There were sounds of some stifled burps and mutters of 'excuse me' heard over and over again. They then chatted casually among themselves and exchanged some jokes.

"Where'd you learn to cook all these, Max?" Darien inquired to the redhead who was sitting opposite of him.

Max's expression dimmed slightly. "I had to cook for my aunt's family...and I'd get belted if the food's not up to their standard."

Instantly, everybody's conversations died out and for a minute there was only silence.

"Uh...what's with all the silence?" Bearmon naïvely asked.

Darien berated himself mentally and decided to change the topic. After sighing slightly, he turned to face Mermaidmon.

"So...Mermaidmon, what is it that you need to tell us about?"

Mermaidmon, who was taking a sip on a glass of plain water, put the glass down. Her face grew serious. Everybody immediately paid attention to what the mermaid had to say. Mermaidmon had said that it was nothing too serious that required their attention instantly, but Darien felt that it was a good diversion to avoid Max from thinking of his past.

For a while, Mermaidmon seemed to be hesitating. However, upon meeting ten pairs of eyes who were staring into her own, she sighed and gave in.

"What I'm going to tell you is not going to be short or pretty...so bear with me, alright?"

* * *

**: Flashback : **

_There's more to the Golden Digicore than all of you could've imagined._

_That very fact has been proven to me barely three weeks ago. At that time I was only a wanderer from the west side of the Digital World, and also was in my champion form called Ranamon..._

Ranamon was minding her own business at the beach, enjoying the sun while soaking herself inside the calm sea. Her light emerald skin blended nicely with the colors of the water. It was a warm day, and the cooling effect of the water was more than what Ranamon had hoped for.

While relaxing, her red eyes didn't lose their alertness in watching over her armors, boots and headdress which lay on top of a rock. They were colored very light pink, with red lines on the sides. Whenever she wore the armor, they complimented her skin and blazing red eyes. Ranamon felt secure enough to unsheathe all her articles of clothing in order to fully enjoy the full effect of her bath inside the seawater.

Suddenly, her green fin-shaped ears picked up a sound. It came from the oceans.

Ranamon groaned. So much for privacy.

She decided that her break was over and quickly wore her armors before hiding herself behind a large stone sticking out from the shallower parts of the beach. She didn't know what was coming, but it was always best to hide if she didn't know what was coming for her. It was something she had gained from experiences that came with traveling on her own, ever since she first digivolved from her rookie level of Otamamon.

A loud, dragon-like roar was heard from the oceans, causing Ranamon to peek over the stone to see what had caused it.

What she saw caused her to pale.

It was an extremely massive serpentine Digimon, rather stout and short to be considered really a serpent. But it was nevertheless big enough to be considered monstrous. It had red scales, from the tip of his frightening jaw until the end of its tail. The jaw was complete with rows of short but razor-sharp teeth. Claws protruded from his stout feet which had blue fin embedded on each of them. The same-colored fins grew out from the superior side of his body in two rows, stretching from each of his glowing red eyes.

Ranamon paled not because of the monstrous Digimon's appearance, but because of its identity.

This Digimon was Leviamon...one of the most powerful of all ten Legion of Darkness. From what Ranamon had heard Leviamon was ranked second in the hierarch of the Legion of Darkness, next only to...

"The Dark One!" Ranamon gasped softly, upon setting her eyes on a figure cloaked with rich blue robes flying above Leviamon. From the back, a pair of black demonic wings grew out. Ranamon recognized the Dark One and Leviamon only by reputation. While Leviamon was second, the Dark One was first. Her eyes then trailed upon another humanoid figure, flying behind the Dark One.

She didn't recognize this figure, but was sure that whoever it was, it was a highly-ranked member of the Legion of Darkness as well - a third, perhaps, seeing that the first and the second were already accounted for. The Digimon wore a pressed striped blue suit; with sleek black bat-like wings erupted from his back. His face was obscured by the helmet he was wearing, and from the helmet thick white hair fell until the level of his chest. The Digimon looked very deadly, like a powerful mercenary.

Behind the three Digimon, a squad of Digimon flew closely. From the looks of them, they looked like they were minions to the three masters of the Legion of Darkness. Ranamon didn't recognize any of them except for one, but registered the fact that all of them were like herself; humanoid. The one she did recognize was a MarineDevimon, who apparently was the largest among the 'minions'.

Suddenly, another loud cry ensued from the lands. The bright sky suddenly turned dark, and gold lights erupted out from the sky. A column of yellow light descended down from the dark heavens. The light was blinding, Ranamon had to block her sight with her hands. But still, she left some spaces between the fingers, hoping to see what was going on.

What Ranamon was about to see was perhaps the most magnificent sight she had the chance to experience. It was something not all Digimon had the privilege to do. Not all Digimon had the chance to bask in the sight of a Harmonious One. One of the sovereign of the Digital World was now within a few metres from where she was hiding.

It was Huanlongmon, the gold dragon sovereign of the central region of Server. He was hovering regally against the dark sky, standing on a strange black-and-white circular symbol which Ranamon did not recognize. Gold, red and green aura flared from his scales, giving himself an impressive look. His fierce face sent the shivers down Ranamon's spine, although the data-type knew that if it was anger Huanlongmon was feeling, it was not directed to her.

Judging from size alone, Huanlongmon seemed able to crush all the Legion of Darkness at one go. However, by doing so he would risk the safety of the continent, as he was _extremely_ gigantic. Not just big or huge, but enormous. His whole body itself could form a peninsular... a small one, not the size of Server but certainly way bigger than normal island. Ranamon figured that was the reason Huanlongmon resided on the sky.

"_I think even File Island can barely fit all his body...Yes, he's THAT colossal..."_

After a brief exchange of words, the titanic battle between Huanlongmon and the Legion of Darkness begun.

And Ranamon was there to watch all of it.

She saw everything; how Huanlongmon sent out waves after waves of gold lights towards the Legion of Darkness. The evil Digimon countered all of Huanlongmon's attacks with their own brand of dark powers combined. Led by the Dark One, the other Legions gradually closed in on the mighty sovereign. Then the Dark One issued a final command, and all of a sudden all the evil Digimon scattered about.

Ranamon realized that with all of Huanlongmon's power, he had a weakness.

Against opponents that could fly, the golden sovereign was greatly handicapped. He also lacked agility due to his massive statuesque. Ranamon saw how Huanlongmon had moved about; he seemed to be limited to the circular symbol where he was standing on.

The scattered evil Digimon then attacked the collections of red spheres which hovered on Huanlongmon's back, covered with some protruded golden scales. Ranamon saw how the evil Digimon focused all their attacks to destroy those spheres, one by one. With every sphere destroyed, Ranamon saw that the sovereign had gotten weaker. The lights radiated from his body were also gradually dimming. Whenever Huanlongmon would counter-attack the minions, the three head honchos of the Legion of Darkness would simply block the attacks to give their minions the time to finish off their tasks.

This happened until Ranamon saw that there was only one sphere remaining. Then Huanlongmon let out a deafening roar. It was like the sounds of the greatest thunder Ranamon had ever heard. The minions were taken aback by the sheer loudness of the sound and tumbled into the waters.

After that, Ranamon felt a sudden shiver and glanced up. To her surprise, Huanlongmon's dark red eyes were staring right towards her. It was a piercing look; one that Ranamon could never ignore.

"Child, you are my last hope. Take care of my last Digicore," Huanlongmon boomed.

The Legion of Darkness immediately realized that they had an audience. But before they could take any action Huanlongmon shone brightly and the last sphere on his body changed from red into brilliant gold. The sphere, which Ranamon had heard clearly to be called as a Digicore, detached itself from Huanlongmon's body and zoomed towards Ranamon in a speed that could only be said as the speed of light. It was like just a flash, or a mere blink of the eye. Without her realizing it, the Golden Digicore was suddenly within her grasp.

The Dark One saw this and was angered. "GET HER!" he bellowed.

As the evil minions began to charge towards her, the Golden Digicore glowed and enveloped her in yellow lights. Ranamon felt raw power surging within her body, energizing her.

"**Ranamon Digivolve to... Mermaidmon!"**

Before Ranamon, now Mermaidmon, could admire her new form, she was forced to take charge when the evil minions were almost close by. However, they were thwarted by an attack from Huanlongmon which slammed all of them onto the high rocks on the beach.

The sovereign shifted his attention towards Mermaidmon, and told her, "Child, today will mark the day of the first arrival of the prophesized DigiDestined. They are destined to be our savior, but even they will need help. Take this Digicore to them. It will be a great tool for them to stand up against the vile power of the Legion of Darkness."

White swirls of light erupted from the Digicore and surrounded Mermaidmon. A bright yellow column of light suddenly flared from the ground where she stood on, and turned her into nothing more than a ray of light which shot towards the sky, heading towards the eastern side of the Digital World.

"_I woke up, and saw that I was unconscious on a secluded beach on the eastern region of the Digital World. At first all I could think of was the splitting headache I was having...I must have hit my head on a rock! Then, all the events that occurred to me that day came back when I saw my reflection on the water...I was Mermaidmon. Then, I remembered the Digicore...which was not with me. I was frantic; I thought that I have failed the sovereign Huanlongmon. He had counted on me to deliver the Digicore to you guys, but I blew it up. I was so ashamed..."_

Mermaidmon searched high and low for the Golden Digicore, but she could not find where it was. She tried to rack her brain for any memory or clue which would hint of the Golden Digicore's whereabouts. She was fairly certain though that the Digicore was not with the Legion of Darkness – the Digicore was firm within her grasp when Huanlongmon's light transported her to the east.

Along the journey, Mermaidmon remembered feeling extremely dizzy. She was traveling at an absolutely unrivalled speed; not even a lightning could catch on her now, she had thought. And then the next thing she knew, she was unconscious on a strange beach.

"I must have dropped the Digicore somewhere in the journey," Mermaidmon finally decided.

From that day on, Mermaidmon began to scour the entire ocean for the Digicore. Several days had passed when she heard from some passerby marine Digimon who were talking among themselves.

"You know...I heard that the DigiDestined are on Database Island," said a red Otamamon.

"From what I heard, there's only one of them now," a Dolphmon said. "A human boy I think. My cousin's at that island."

"Bless those DigiDestined...the destined saviors," said a wizened Seadramon. "They are destined to save our world from that treacherous Legion of Darkness. Let us hope that they will be successful, for their sake, and for ours."

Mermaidmon smiled. Thank the sovereigns that some Digimon really loved gossiping. After asking for some directions to go to Database Island, Mermaidmon began to set forth there, thinking that by a twist of good luck she would find the Digicore.

And she did have her good luck. While swimming one day, she crossed path with a grandiose black vessel and overheard talking on the deck.

"Alright crew, on the double now! We need to get this Golden Digicore to Dragomon in three days."

"Aye-aye, captain Hookmon, sir!"

It was enough proof that the ship, and whoever on board, must have the Digicore in their possession. But judging from the sounds of the talker, Hookmon, Mermaidmon knew that it wasn't going to be easy to persuade him to hand over the Digicore to her. And so, she decided to follow the ship from a safe distance and was glad to see that the ship was heading her way as well, although apparently Database Island was not their main destination.

"_Then there came the incidence with the Niximon at the Poseidon Gate. Niximon are notorious for their uncanny ability to entice sailors, males in particular, into their possession. Hookmon and his crew wouldn't stand a chance, so I've decided to help them. But that didn't mean that I was able to fend those sprites off without being inflicted some bodily harm. After some fierce fighting between myself and the Niximon, they finally decided that I and the ship were not worth their time and left us alone, and I made sure that the Bane Buccaneer, as the ship was called, made it out Poseidon Gate safely. Then I stayed back deep underwater to recuperate. And the rest is history."_

**: End Flashback : **

* * *

"Wow..." all DigiDestined said in awe, after Mermaidmon finished regaling her tale.

"That was some story," said Darien, staring at the black-suited mermaid with new light.

Kanto rubbed his chin absent-mindedly. "So what happened to the sovereign Huanlongmon? Did he win the fight?"

"I really don't know about that," Mermaidmon admitted. "The sovereign Huanlongmon transported me away before I could see the final outcome of the match. I don't think he stood a chance back then...he was outnumbered greatly by that accursed Legion of Darkness. I just hope that he is still alive."

"Now, about that Golden Digicore... it's supposed to be with you, right?" Max said. "And you're supposed to give it to us."

Mermaidmon nodded. "Yes. But seeing as it is now with Hookmon...I don't know how to ask for it from him."

"Why didn't you just ask?" Kira inquired.

The mermaid let out an amused smile. "Would he believe me? He's a skeptical one, that pirate. Besides, he's been doing a good job in guarding its safety. I was afraid at first that he would hand it over to Dragomon, but it seems that his heart is still good. That was why I chose to tag along with you, to watch over you guys and the Digicore. Tomorrow though, we _will_ have to ask Hookmon to return the Digicore to you five...the rightful owners of it, as the sovereign Huanlongmon had meant it to be."

Everyone murmured their agreements instantly.

Jon then had another question which was on his mind. "I have a question. About those Niximon...you said that they have the ability to entice sailors and males in particular. So does this mean that females are not affected by them?"

Mermaidmon pondered upon it for a while before nodding slightly. "Perhaps. I never know that for sure...but their songs never affected me. It seems that it didn't hold any effect on Kira and Renamon as well. But I do know one thing. Once a person is possessed, if by any luck he manages to break free from the hypnotism he'll be immune to the Niximon's songs for life. That is why, I think, Hookmon and his crew were not affected the second time around."

"That's comforting," Kanto said, relieved. For a while, his eyes darted on Kira but quickly shifted back to face Mermaidmon and the crowd.

"So what do we do now?" ToyAgumon asked.

Max eyed the empty plates and bowls. "Now...we'll clean up the dishes."

Groans were heard coming from the other DigiDestined, to Max's amusement.

"Hey, it's not my favorite job either."

All the DigiDestined and Digimon took their dirty dishes and went to the kitchen. Max was there first, carrying his load and ToyAgumon's, as there was no way the cubical Digimon could hold on the dishes without risk of dropping them. He placed the dishes inside the sink and turned the tap to let out some water.

No water came out. "Strange..." Max muttered. "We have water just now. What gives?"

Noises were heard coming from inside the tap. At first everyone thought that it was the sound of the wind coming out from the tap, but then they could make out a very familiar kind of noise. The noise was rhythmic, and as it became gradually clearer all of them realized that it was not a noise.

It was...a vocalization from a female's voice.

Suddenly, waters flowed out from the tap without warning. The sink was instantly flooded, and some of the waters splashed onto those who were near the sink and the floor. But there was something uncanny with the water...especially when it was glowing with eerie blue light.

Swirls of blue water began to take shape from the water as more poured out from the tap, threatening to flood the kitchen if somebody didn't close the leaky faucet that instant. However, when Max tried to do so the faucet simply would not budge.

More swirls of blue light took shape from the flooding water, and from the swirls translucent humanly bodies materialized.

Very familiar enticing female figures formed, with long flowing hair, sharp white fangs and deep blue eyes.

It was them. The Niximon were back!

* * *

**-**

**Author's Note:**

Okay...so this chapter is more or less, a filler chapter...but it does contain one important event which is reflected by Mermaidmon. I took the opportunity to explain about her background story as well as elaborating about the fight between Huanlongmon and the Legion of Darkness. There's mention about it in previous chapters, but this chapter you'll get to see the details.

Alright, before anyone would try to correct me, I _do_ know that Ranamon is a hybrid Digimon from Digimon Frontier. It's just that I'm toying with the idea of introducing Frontier's Digimon while modifying _some_ (not all) of them slightly to differentiate them from the original ones, and classify them just as how Digimon are classified – according to digivolutionary levels and types.

Here's what I have in mind.

Spirit Evolved / Beast Spirit Evolved Digimon champion level Digimon

Fusion Evolved Digimon ultimate level Digimon

Unified Spirit Evolved Digimon mega level Digimon

And so, if you've missed it...I have made Ranamon's armor pink instead of blue. She is classified under data type, champion level Digimon digivolved from Otamamon, and would digivolve to Mermaidmon.

Alright...now on to the reviews!

**_Quinton Notwen_** – Something unpleasant has happened...more or less. The Niximon have returned.

**_dark672, Gijinka Renamon_** – Thanks :) And Gijinka Renamon, welcome to Legends of the DigiDestined.

**_Jack the ripper_** – I think this chapter has more or less answered some of your inquiries. Everything else will be revealed in the next two or three chapters, depending on how much I can write :). Stay tuned.

Keep the reviews coming, guys! I appreciate them.


	23. Invasion

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 23 – Invasion_**

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Under the surface of the shallower parts of the sea near the File Island, a serpentine shadow was seen slithering its way towards the island. Aided only by the yellow light of the three-quarter moonlight, the snakelike being seemed to be navigating its way rather adeptly, carefully avoiding the stones which were scattered all over the sea. Upon closer inspection with the moonlight's abet, one could see that this serpent was clearly a Digimon long and massive in size. Dark red scales reflected the pale lights of the night, where the sky cast a strange hue of dark purple and maroon, intertwining with black and grey at various spots, making it a not-so-dark night after all.

The snake seemed to be making an effort of not making its presence known, as there seemed to be hardly any effect at all on the surface of the waters where it was gliding below. Quiet and stealthy, the Digimon paused momentarily underwater and glanced behind. Its eyes flashed bright red momentarily in a brief spark of light, then dissipated once more to assume back its former shade. Then, it waited for a response while still remaining quiet.

For a while nothing appeared to have happened, but the Digimon then caught sight on two brief twinkles of red. It seemed that that was the response it was waiting for. Satisfied, the serpent then resumed the journey to be closer to File Island. However, the island did not seem to be its main destination when it suddenly curled away, heading to where the grand vessel – the Bane Buccaneer – was at.

On board the ship, several crews were in the process of making final cleaning up for the ship, oblivious to the fact that somebody was approaching the ship. The Koemons, in the process of getting over the deaths of their four friends, were all quiet and spiritless. Their usual joyful selves were still affected by the death, but they knew that their captain was taking it even harder.

After finishing with the routine checkups, the Koemons decided to call it a night when suddenly the ship vibrated. Instantly the Koemons became alert; the last time the ship shook like that happened only recently. The vibration they were experiencing was not a rare occurrence, as it was only a sign of waves colliding with the ship which the rookies were accustomed when they were on their journey to the open sea. However, this time they were close to the shore. The waters probably were only approximately ten to fifteen meters in depth, and there was no sign of any waves. The waters were calm; what could be triggering the vibration?

As if answering their question, the serpent Digimon which had approached the ship decided to reveal itself and leapt out from the sea, to the surprise of the Koemons. It hovered over the air, sending the waters splashing on board of the ship. However upon setting sight in the snake, all of them blanched slightly in shock.

"Captain...?" all of them squeaked in disbelief.

The Digimon smirked in amusement upon the rookies' confusion. However the mistake was understandable, as their captain...Hookmon, had recently digivolved into a Digimon whose form was remarkably similar to itself. Hookmon had been MegaSeadramon, and this Digimon, whose scales were of deeper red in hue and wore bronze mask instead of gold one, was a viral version of a MegaSeadramon.

"Wrong, fools!" shouted the Digimon. "The name's WaruSeadramon. Remember that. And here's something for you cretins! Evil Icicles!"

The Koemons shrieked as WaruSeadramon fired volleys of ice bullets from its snout towards them. Many were hit by the freezing assault and tumbled all over the deck, with various parts of their bodies frozen as the result. WaruSeadramon then attacked again, this time around freezing the deck all over. The Koemons, already immobilized by the earlier attack, were now embedded with a layer of ice which was beginning to envelope the entire ship. A layer of thick ice soon enveloped all the surfaces of the Bane Buccaneer, from the bottom of the ship up until the flag secured at the tip of the tallest mast. The weight of the ship began to increase with the addition of the layer of ice, and the ship was faced with the possibility of sinking into the sea.

WaruSeadramon laughed heartily. "That was too easy. Lord Dragomon will be pleased to hear about this success!"

"Hey! What's going on here!" a gruff voice, sounding somewhat muffled, screamed from the frozen door leading to the lower deck. Furious pounding sounds were heard as the one behind the door tried to make his way out. "Captain Cannon!"

Instantly, a deafening explosion ensued and the frozen door was shattered into tiny splinters and ice sprinkles. Smokes formed from the explosion, and as it began to clear out an outline of a humanoid Digimon was seen amidst the grey smolders. It was Hookmon, with his cannon-arm thrust forward. An angry glare was imminently fixed on his eyes as he scanned the frozen surroundings. His dark eyes faltered upon setting sight on the frozen Koemons before returning back into the infuriated glaze he had before upon setting sight on the serpentine figure of WaruSeadramon, who was now floating just above the surface of the waters.

"Just who in the seven seas are you?" Hookmon demanded. "How DARE you do this to my crew...and my ship!"

"Consider myself an evil twin of your ultimate form, traitor!" exclaimed WaruSeadramon. "I'm here under orders of the mighty Lord Dragomon! Hand in the Golden Digicore, and he shall be merciful to your traitorous act. Ignore this, and I shall be forced to take action."

"Then bring it on, you fake doppelganger! **Hookmon digivolve to... MegaSeadramon**!"

* * *

On the other side of the island, near the east coast, a gargantuan Digimon resembling a scorpion with beige exoskeleton infiltrated the peacefulness of the population there. His presence, while still being a few miles away from the town, caused unrest on the occupants of a town nearby the coast. The place which was going to be victimized was Toy Town, whose mayor was the peace-loving Monzaemon. Toy Town was mainly populated by young Digimon; nobody there except for Monzaemon had reached champion level. Thus, they were mainly defenseless against the trespassing Digimon, Scorpiomon, who was also one of the three ultimate Digimon sent by Dragomon to wreck mayhem all over the File Island.

"Run, young ones!" screamed Monzaemon as he ushered several rookie Digimon away upon seeing the deadly scorpion Digimon.

Panic shouts were heard as a horde of Rookie digimon stampeded towards the town gate. The bigger ones were seen, out of desperation, pushing away some of the smaller ones as they tried to make their way out. At time like this, everyone was thinking of their own life instead of others; nobody wanted to perish in the hands of the giant scorpion which was heading their way.

A quartet of Rookies was seen helping some of the unfortunate ones back on their feet after the crowds dissipated. They were those of the Database Island, and allies to the DigiDestined. They were Tentomon, Biyomon, Gomamon and Palmon.

"Here now, do be careful on your way out," Biyomon said kindly as she and Palmon helped a frightened Floramon back on her feet.

"Don't let those big bullies Gazimons push you down again," called out Palmon, as the Floramon took off towards the gate after thanking them.

Tentomon and Gomamon sighed as they helped out a trio of small purple hamsters with bat wings sticking out at the sides of their head. "There you go, Tsukaimons...run as far as you can. What's going to happen here will be ugly," said Gomamon.

"Aren't you coming with us?" one Tsukaimon inquired curiously.

"No. We want to help your mayor defend this place from that trespasser," answered Tentomon.

"But...you'll be killed! That monster's huge!" exclaimed another Tsukaimon in shock.

"And you're so little...like us," said the third hamster skeptically.

Gomamon snickered. "Shows what you know, kiddies. Don't sweat about it. We'll be alright; D'you know that we've been champion Digimon before? We'll handle that pushover good. We're gonna cream that crustacean..." Gomamon stopped suddenly when Tentomon interrupted him with a faked cough.

"Really? Cool!" cheered the Tsukaimons with vigor. They then flapped their batwings and flew off from the village, shouting out their well-wishes for Gomamon and Tentomon. When the little hamsters were out of sight Tentomon shifted his attention towards his aquatic friend.

"You do know that we've lost our powers back when we helped out the DigiDestined now, don't you?" he asked dryly.

Gomamon sweatdropped. "Oops...I guess I've missed that important fact." Tentomon rolled his insect-like eyes upon the sheepish response.

As the four of them regrouped, two more Digimon ran inside the evacuated town. The quartet glanced upon the noise generated by the two of them and realized that they were old friends of theirs. Both were in rookie level as well, and the quartet recognized the two of them as Agumon and Gabumon.

"Agumon! Gabumon!" Biyomon called out happily, as Agumon and Gabumon waved back to her.

"It's been quite a while since we saw you guys!" Agumon said when he and Gabumon were close to the quartet.

"I'D SAY! It's been TEN YEARS since we last heard from you two!" Palmon roared, causing Agumon and Gabumon to wince slightly. Then both the vegetation Digimon and Biyomon hugged their friends instantly.

"Glad to see that we've been missed," Gabumon said, smiling, after the girls hugged him.

"Whatever happened to you two?" Tentomon inquired. "We've been worried sick after hearing that Omnimon has disappeared right just before the invasion of the Legion of Darkness."

"I almost thought that the great Omnimon had chickened out," Gomamon quipped before his eyes bulged slightly. "Hey...you're ROOKIES again! What gives? I thought both of you have reached mega levels when you trained under the Harmonious Ones?"

"Well...duh," said Palmon sarcastically.

Agumon was about to answer when he saw Scorpiomon approaching. "Woah...check out that Scorpiomon!"

"Ultimate level, data type crustacean Digimon," Gabumon assessed quickly. "A very dangerous Digimon who uses his Tail Blade and Stinger Surprise attacks to wipe out everything that gets in its way. We're in serious trouble here."

"What are you, a Digimon analyzer or something?" Gomamon asked gleefully.

"GOMAMON!" Tentomon cried exasperatedly. "We're in danger here; there's no time to hear out your silly jokes!"

Agumon and Gabumon merely shook their heads. "Listen. Do any of you still have the digivolution powers that we've given you ten years back?"

"No. All of our powers are now inside the DigiDestined' Digimon partners," replied Biyomon.

"We've given them all that we've got when they fought that red freak Boogeymon," added Palmon with a sigh.

"And you're staying here instead of running out like that horde of Rookies we saw just now?" Agumon asked in disbelief. "That won't be good...Scorpiomon is going to be far more powerful than all of us Rookies put together."

"Oh?" Palmon asked, with her green vegetation hands on her waist. "What are YOU two doing here then?"

Agumon sweatdropped. Gabumon chuckled lightly before decided to continue on the mini T-rex's behalf. "Actually...we wanted to find you guys. Fighting that Scorpiomon wasn't part of the plan...but I guess now we don't exactly have a choice."

"You still haven't answered Gomamon's question yet; why are you two in rookie levels again?" Biyomon reminded them, while casting a swift glance towards where Scorpiomon was at. The ultimate Digimon was still a mile away, and Monzaemon had already stood at the other entrance of the town which headed to the path where Scorpiomon was.

"Long story, but to cut it short we've been drained off our power ever since we fought Apocalymon ten years back," Agumon answered. "We de-digivolved during the fight with Phelesmon, and we've given the power of DNA Digivolution to two of the DigiDestined' partners."

"Boy, you guys sure are _generous_," Gomamon quipped. Tentomon, Biyomon and Palmon all scowled upon the sarcastic remark.

"We still have the power to digivolve...but not enough to go past champion level for the time being," continued Gabumon, ignoring Gomamon's remark.

"Looks like we have to go champion to help out that teddy bear over there," said Agumon, naïvely oblivious to the remark at all. "You ready, Gabumon?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. Let's do it."

Both Digimon then flared with red and blue lights as they were charged with the power of digivolution which still resided in their bodies. They grew bigger, with Agumon turning into a hulking orange dinosaur sporting blue stripes on his body and wore a brown helmet which fit nicely on his head, while Gabumon morphed into a sleek wolf with dark blue stripes and white fur.

"**Agumon digivolve to... Greymon**!"

"**Gabumon digivolve to... Garurumon**!"

Garurumon turned to face the quartet. "You four stay here...no, you four go and evacuate this place now."

"But we want to help out!" Tentomon protested.

"It's not safe!" Greymon growled. "And I mean it. That Scorpiomon looks like it really means business."

"...Fine!"

The two champions then left their rookie friends and approached Monzaemon, who jumped in surprise upon being approached from the back. The teddy bear soon calmed down upon seeing Greymon and Garurumon, immediately trusting them as both were vaccine types, like himself. And from the looks of it, they looked like they want to help him. But still, Monzaemon wanted to make sure.

"What are you two doing here? I can't say that I recognize you."

Greymon glanced at the approaching Scorpiomon one more time. "We're here to help you."

"That Scorpiomon is strong. You won't be able to fight it by yourself," said Garurumon.

Monzaemon nodded. "To tell you the truth...I'm not sure whether I can take that Scorpiomon by myself either. I'm just not cut out to fight. I've instructed the occupants of this town to run away quickly because I'm worried about their safety. All of them are still very young, I don't want to see them hurt, nor do I want them to watch the upcoming battle. It would ruin their innocence!"

"We understand," said a voice from their back solemnly. "And we want to help as well."

Both Greymon and Garurumon turned, recognizing the voice of one of their friends who'd just said that.

It was the quartet. Surprisingly, Gomamon was the one who had said it.

Garurumon's brown eyes bulged. "What are you four doing here? I thought I've told you to go away from here?"

"Nu-uh! We're staying to help!" Gomamon countered back.

"We really want to do this," said Biyomon compassionately. "There's strength in numbers."

"Don't look down on us just because we're Rookies!" Palmon huffed.

Tentomon nodded. "I concur. We still pack quite a punch when we're together. There's no reason for you to be worried about us!"

Both Greymon and Garurumon groaned. "...Fine!"

* * *

At the north coast, the Digimon there, under Andromon's lead, were fighting a vicious ultimate Digimon who went by the name of Zudomon. An enormous mammal-turtle hybrid with dark grey skin and patches of dark brown fur covering its head and hands, this Zudomon was a viral version of the normally vaccine type ones. With his hammer, Zudomon caused multiple earthquakes over the northern part of the island when he slammed it on the ground.

"Hammer Spark!" shouted Zudomon, slamming his metallic hammer onto the grounds. A lightning bolt deep violet in color shot out from the force exerted from Zudomon's hammer and sped towards where the File Islanders were currently at.

"Guardromons!" Andromon exclaimed. "Counter attack now!"

A troop of stout, rusty, oven-like Digimon lined up in front of Andromon. There were ten of them, and all had their metallic upper limbs raised up. Their eyes slit in half, signing the emotion of anger despite being robotic. Their circuits registered the commands issued by their leader, and quickly they retaliated by firing up several missiles shaped like the heads and hands of policemen, complete with the baton and the hat. Loud sirens accompanied the attacks launched by the Guardromons as they zoomed in steady speed towards the incoming lightning bolt.

"Guardian Barrage!"

Andromon then prepared himself to add up to the effect of the Guardomons' Guardian Barrages. A piece of thick metal on his chest slid down, revealing a compartment with two small missiles ready for launching. "Gatling Attack!"

The missiles were launched and soon flew along with the barrages released by the Guardromons. Together, they then collided with Zudomon's attack and caused a huge explosion upon the momentum. Smokes obscured everyone's eyesight momentarily, but when they ceased the good and the bad Digimon found that the effect of the collision was a stalemate.

Blurs of brown and green then leapt up from Andromon's back. They were two Digimon, and obviously they were eager to help out.

"Fist of the Beast King!"

"Pummel Whack!"

Zudomon eyed the two attacks lazily and merely raised his hammer, which effortlessly deflected the two attacks. Those attacks were from Leomon and Ogremon, whom had followed Andromon back to his place to stay for the night. Upon seeing that Andromon was under attack the two so-called rivals both stepped to help out.

"It's no use! He's too strong. At this rate, we'd be beaten soon!" Ogremon exclaimed, his voice quivering.

"Oh? Are you saying that you're giving up?" Leomon inquired back, rather sarcastically. "He can't be stronger than Phelesmon, that I'm sure."

Ogremon stuck out his tongue towards Leomon. "Me? Giving up...while you're still at it? You must be joking, lion boy!"

The two rivaling duo then shot forward; both seemed to be taking this matter as a sheer competition. However Zudomon saw Leomon and Ogremon as pests, who were on his way. And rules stated that all kinds of pest must be...exterminated.

Eyeing his champion level opponents wryly, Zudomon opted for the unexpected move of attack and threw his large hammer towards them. With force from Zudomon's great strength the hammer spun towards both Leomon and Ogremon at an incredible speed, threatening to knock onto both of them should nobody decided to do something about it.

Leomon was at the front line and most vulnerable to the attack...and Ogremon could do nothing but shout out his warning.

"Look out!"

It however seemed too late, as the hammer was just inches away from Leomon's head. Should it crash onto Leomon; the lion would be as good as dead. The effect of the hammer was powerful enough to crack even the hardest metal; how could Leomon's skull compare with it? Ogremon immediately threw his bone cudgel in an attempt to counter the hammer, but the ogre knew deep down that it was too late.

"It's been nice knowing you, pal...despite the circumstances," he said solemnly before jeering away off the course of the hammer.

Leomon had never been a coward, but at this time he could think of doing nothing else...but to close his eyes and just wait for the impact.

_Three...two...one..._

It never came. Leomon opened his eyes again and saw that somehow, the hammer was frozen in midair. However, his logical mind thought that it was impossible. He was about to inspect the strange phenomenon when suddenly someone kicked him from the back, slamming him onto the ground.

"You dumb lion! You could've been killed...and you still have the nerve to check out the hammer!" shouted Ogremon.

Leomon was too transfixed to even come up with a retort; everything that had just happened in the course of several seconds was too strange for him to absorb. He glanced around, and saw Andromon smiling at him while gesturing at a shorter Digimon who stood in front of him. The Digimon was certainly a strange being, looking like a mix between a puppet and a clock. The puppet part formed the upper body, from waist-up, while the clock seemed to be his lower half, with the legs coming out from the bottom of the clock.

"What happened?"

"Thanks to Clockmon here, you're safe. His Time Buster attack can freeze, or at least slow down, any moving objects," Andromon explained. "I'd call it the ability to freeze time, but it is impossible now, as only the hammer there which is frozen."

Finally everything came back to Leomon, causing him to breathe out in relief. Then he turned to Ogremon with a look of gratitude, his hands rubbing his back where Ogremon had kicked him earlier.

"Ogremon...thanks. I don't know what to say. I do believe you were worried about me back there."

Ogremon raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Me? Worried about you? Please...surely you jest! Just don't get yourself used to it, lion boy! I only helped you...because I still have a score to settle with you!"

Leomon smiled; this was how he'd expected Ogremon to respond. "Ok...if you say so."

"So what do we do with that thing?" the green ogre asked, pointing to the suspended hammer.

Leomon eyed the hammer carefully. "It's impossible for us to destroy the hammer...our attacks combined didn't even land a scratch on it. My guess is that this hammer is made out of Chrome Digizoid alloy...the strongest metal in the Digital World. It would take a Chrome Digizoid to destroy a Chrome Digizoid."

"Know anyone around here who has one?"

"Not that I know of...we've just arrived here, dimwit!"

Ogremon blinked. "Hey! Who are you calling dimwit...knucklehead!"

Meanwhile, Zudomon was annoyed that his plan to rid Leomon and Ogremon was foiled. He stampeded forward, attempting to retrieve his suspended hammer. The force from his stampeding nearly caused everyone to tumble down the ground.

Andromon wasn't going to let Zudomon have his weapon back. "Guardomons...attack now!"

The Guardromons responded instantly to their leader's command and blasted their Guardian Barrages towards Zudomon once more. Without his weapon, the tusked Digimon had no other means to block the attacks. The barrages all rammed on his body, but at the last minute Zudomon seemed to come up with an idea and turned away, using his hard spiked shell to receive the attack. Upon meeting the hard shell the barrages exploded, but Zudomon seemed to be less than harmed...despite the scorch marks inflicted on his shell. This proved the fact that without his hammer, Zudomon no longer was an invincible opponent. With proper planning, he could be beaten.

"Alright," Andromon said and begun outlining his plan to the other Digimon.

* * *

While three raging battles took place at three different sides of File Island, the DigiDestined were currently having their hands full dealing with the Niximon. Those water sprites had appeared all of a sudden while they were about to clean up the dishes. Quickly abandoning the dishes, all DigiDestined immediately reached out inside their pockets or belts for their Digivices when...

"Oh shoot! I left my Digivice back at the room, inside my outer shirt!" Darien wailed. He immediately ran for the stairs, followed closely by Bearmon. They were followed closely by two Niximons, who floated away to chase the teen.

"Nuh-uh...I don't think so, you wretches!" Mermaidmon roared, taking careful aim of the Niximons with her outstretched arms. "Charm's Plunder!"

Orange lights enveloped the two Niximons, causing them to instantly explode into tiny particles of water. Their shrieks echoed for a moment all over the house before they disappeared gradually. Mermaidmon then faced the other DigiDestined and Digimon.

"We need to take the battle outside. Your Digimon can fight better there. Out now, I'll cover your backs!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Max replied. "Everyone, let's go."

The four DigiDestined and their partners immediately made a beeline towards the foyer which would lead them towards the door. The Niximon, more than a dozen of them, pursued the four DigiDestined in order to stop them from getting outside but was stopped by Mermaidmon with her Charm's Plunder technique. However her attack could no longer delete all the Niximons; the partner Digimon decided to get involved as well.

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon shouted and blasted volleys of diamond projectiles toward an incoming Niximon. However, the attack went right through it.

"It didn't work!" Kira gasped.

Jon looked over at his partner. "Let Kotemon try his attack."

"Thunder Gauntlet!" Kotemon joined in, charging his metallic gauntlets hidden inside his long sleeves with electricity and aimed several punches towards a Niximon who was close enough for him to land some punches. The Niximon shrieked, it being water-based meaning that it could not stand electricity. While Renamon's attack did not cause any harm for the said Niximon, Kotemon's proved to be quite deadly.

"Yeah, you show her, Kotemon!" Jon cheered proudly.

Max eyed the door, and the Niximons who were still relentless. Then he got an idea and whirled around to face Kanto and DemiDevimon who were perched on top of the younger boy's Gilligan hat.

"Kanto, we need you to digivolve DemiDevimon now. Wizardmon's got that powerful Thunder Blast attack which would help us."

Nodding, Kanto immediately raised his Digivice while DemiDevimon flew down from his head. Violet lights flared from the Digivice and engulfed the little rookie, supplying him with the power needed to take one step further.

"**DemiDevimon digivolve to... Wizardmon**!"

Wizardmon took aim towards several Niximons and called out, "Thunder Blast!"

The effect was amazing; all the Niximons which were present inside the foyer were affected by the lightning attack and limped in midair, giving the DigiDestined enough time to make it out the mansion. Once outside, the remaining three destined Digimon quickly ascended into their champion form of Veedramon, Kyubimon and Dinohumon, and were now ready to face off with the Niximons.

More of the water sprites flew outside, and there the destined Digimon were ready to face them. The Niximons regrouped together, and initiated their Ghastly Symphonies song. Their haunting song echoed against the dark night, causing the DigiDestined and Digimon to be confused slightly of what the intentions those Niximons had. None of them were affected by the song any more, having been immunized by it upon surviving the first attack.

"What are they doing?" Kyubimon wondered.

Veedramon shook his head. "Don't know...but it can't be anything good. Still, we have to stop them."

"I second that," agreed Dinohumon. "They're weak against thunder attacks...let's see how they fare against the power of fire."

With that said Dinohumon took out his blades and energized fire around the blades, preparing his Lizard Dance attack. He glided on his largest knife, sailing in midair while trying to take the closest aim possible. When he was close enough Dinohumon quickly launched his fiery assault...only to be sprayed with water by the Niximons, who then giggled madly upon seeing Dinohumon crash-landed onto the ground.

"Oh, no!" Jon wailed. "Dinohumon...you ok?"

"Aside from being wet, I'm alright."

Suddenly more and more Niximons flew out from the house, their numbers were steadfastly increasing. First there were ten, then ten more followed making twenty, and approximately twenty more followed to make the grand total of the Niximons close to forty, if the destroyed ones were not counted. Suddenly instead of focusing their attention towards the DigiDestined the Niximons all flew away from the mansion, whilst giggling madly.

"Oh no! They're going for the populace!" Max realized.

"We've got to stop them!" Kira cried, shuddering. "I'd hate to see anybody being controlled by that...that...horrible things!"

The four champion Digimon immediately chased the Niximons. Veedramon, being the most plump and big, was soon left behind instantly by his lither comrades who sped towards the sprites frantically. Pouting, the blue dragon returned back to where the DigiDestined stood, watching as Dinohumon glowed with yellow lights, Wizardmon firing off several thunderbolts and Kyubimon morphed into a fiery blue dragon specter to consume some of the water demons. From the attacks several Niximons were obliterated, but the number was still very high. The Niximons then retaliated by spraying jets of water blasts towards the three agile Digimon, alternating it with their sonic attacks.

"Where's that Darien when you need him? With him, Veedramon can DNA Digivolve..." Max muttered grumpily.

Kira couldn't help but smile. "You have to forgive my brother...he's actually quite notorious in being rather forgetful. It doesn't happen often, but when it does the timings were usually off. I think that this is one of those times. It's purely accidental, and he's been working on overcoming it."

Suddenly Darien and Bearmon burst out from the door, followed closely by Mermaidmon. Bearmon leapt forward as Darien thrust his arm forward, his Digivice releasing waves of blue light. With a bright flash of light, little Bearmon transformed into the four-legged Grizzmon and landed on the ground with a rumble which nearly caused the DigiDestined to fell.

"Nice to see that you've finally decided to join us," said Max dryly.

Darien grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Now that Grizzmon and I are here...let's get the party started and go kick some Niximons' butt!"

Everyone else sweatdropped. "Err...I don't think they have one to begin with," Jon pointed out.

"And the _party_ has started for quite a while," added Kanto, pointing to the sky where their partners were battling with the Niximons. Suddenly he frowned upon seeing Wizardmon. The magic Digimon seemed to be distracted by something else. His staff then glowed, a sign of Wizardmon summoning his sight beyond sight technique. Kanto wondered what was up.

"What is he doing?"

On the other hand, it seemed that the Niximons had grown tired of playing around with the destined Digimon. They regrouped together and launched a combined jet of water spray from their translucent hands towards Kyubimon, Dinohumon and Wizardmon, pushing the three of them down onto the ground. Laughing with satisfaction, the Niximons then floated away and spread out to all over the island.

"I wonder what they are up to this time," groaned Mermaidmon...before she herself became transfixed towards a certain position.

Everybody followed her gazes and saw what she'd seen. Far away where the shore of the island was, everyone could see a fierce battle between two nearly identical serpentine Digimon. Lightning bolts and dark tsunami were seen exchanged between the two Digimon. Everyone recognized the lighter red scaled Digimon – he was MegaSeadramon.

"Look! It's Hookmon!" cried Kira.

"And he's fighting...a clone of his?" Jon said, confused of the other serpent Digimon who resembled MegaSeadramon.

"That's a WaruSeadramon...a viral version of MegaSeadramon," Mermaidmon clarified. Her brows knitted as she wondered who could've sent the Digimon.

"We have to help him!" Max exclaimed. "He doesn't seem to be holding well on his own."

"Wait..."

It was Wizardmon. The three Champions who'd fallen earlier had already gotten back on their feet, but Dinohumon and Kyubimon noticed that Wizardmon's face was pale. Trickles of sweat beads trailed down his grayish, cyanotic skin. He had his green eyes fixed on his glowing staff.

"Wizardmon, what's the matter?" Kanto asked, when he noticed his partner's strange demeanour.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost!" Darien quipped, earning him an elbow from Kira. "Ouch...Kira!"

Wizardmon shook slightly as he glanced away from his staff as it dimmed back to normal. "Not a ghost..." he began softly. "...but I think that we're being watched by somebody who has no good intention." He raised his free hand and gestured towards a direction, slightly to the right from the site where MegaSeadramon was battling his evil twin while his eyes still fixed to his staff, as if trying to confirm the real position of the one who supposedly was observing them. "There...that way!"

This statement alarmed the DigiDestined and the rest of the Digimon. Quickly they stared towards the direction where Wizardmon was pointing. All they could see were darkened backgrounds, the pale moonlight, faint mists, the calm waters...but nothing else.

"I don't see anything," Kanto stated after squinting his eyes slightly.

"Me neither," said Jon. "What or who are we supposed to see, Wizardmon?"

Wizardmon frowned. "I don't know either...but I don't have a good feeling about this. I saw a monster...in all sense of words. His eyes are red, and he has a massive body structure resembling...a mutated humanoid octopus. I don't recognize him, but I have a suspicion of who exactly he is."

"Could it be the other Legion of Darkness?" Max inquired, frowning.

"What? Oh come on, we've just fought that devil Phelesmon a couple of days ago! Give us a break now!" said Darien exasperatedly.

"I think so," Wizardmon confirmed. "Back when Impmon and I were still under Boogeymon's service, we sometimes heard of him saying something about the other Legion of Darkness. He had mentioned somebody who goes by the title 'Master of the Undersea' who lives deep beneath the Ocean of Sorrow, which is merely miles away from Database Island."

"Sounds like that _Dragomon_ Hookmon told us about," Kanto decided.

"I believe so," agreed Wizardmon.

"If it is Dragomon you saw, then it would only mean that we are about to face him," Kyubimon stated plainly.

"Oh no! Last time, the battle with Phelesmon alone cost everyone the whole Database Island," said Jon with worry. "Even Omnimon was beaten; but thanks to Cyberdramon we've managed to finish off Phelesmon, hopefully once and for all. I'd hate to think of the outcome of the battle with Dragomon."

"Don't worry, Jon," said Veedramon. "I'm sure that was the last time we would see Phelesmon."

"_We_ have made sure of that," Grizzmon said firmly. "We've crushed him; he was deleted right in front of our eyes."

Then, all of a sudden, a loud rumbling was heard from far away, which attracted the attention of the DigiDestined and the Digimon. It was a sound of when something huge began to resurface from the sea, coupled with some splashing sounds resembling the sound of the waves splashing onto the shore. A dark shadow began to rise from the surface of the sea miles away from File Island. It rose slowly but gradually, sending waters cascading down back into the sea. All of them nearly choked upon the sight which beheld them.

The shadow was, for sure, a Digimon. A _grotesque_ Digimon, who looked both revolting and menacing at the same time.

Everyone instantly had a foreboding feeling of the identity of the Digimon.

What seemed to be shaped like a bulbous head coming out first, followed by the torso and upper extremities before finally half of the lower limbs were visible. Massive leathery wings protruded out from the back of this Digimon. His height and size alone was dominating enough; any who just set sight on him would quiver in fear. His head had even reached the lowest part of the stratus, and it was dripping with sea water, giving the head a glowing purple hue against the dark maroon backdrop and pale yellow moonlight. With his glowing red eyes, muscular body and his overall monstrosity, he was a fearsome sight to behold.

"It's him..." Wizardmon said fearfully. "That's the one I saw using my viewing spell!"

* * *

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**Author's Notes:**

The final battle between the DigiDestined and Dragomon is about to come, thus ending the second arc of this story. For that, I have an important announcement: This story's rating will be increased from **PG** to **PG-13**. I think it would be most appropriate, considering the darker plots the third arc will be having. Nothing big, I'm sure... but should it be a problem, don't hesitate to tell me. As for myself, I think it's well overdue. :)

A note about Zudomon in this chapter: He is NOT the vaccine type we saw in the series. This Zudomon here is a virus type counterpart to his vaccine brother. His attacks will be the original attack names instead of the dubbed ones.

Anyway, thank you for all the reviews. Keep them coming.

**_Jack the ripper_** – Yeah, they'll meet one in future. And the Digimon will digivolve into their natural ultimate forms in future. How and when, you'll have to stay tune and find out.

**_dark672, starauthor23, Roby Murphy_** – Thanks! And **_starauthor23_**, welcome to Legends of the DigiDestined!

**_Sukara-Nodori_** – Thanks for your support :) I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and the whole story.

**_Hahn_** – That's ok...what matters is that you're back :) I'm glad that you don't find that to be a problem. I think for now I'd rather modifying some existing Digimon rather than making a new one, because it will be easier for the readers to picture it if I just...say, change the color schemes and their attributes (data to virus, virus to vaccine... the like)

**_Zenon Kar_** – You've changed your nick again. :P Glad that you like this chapter. That chapter is one of those chapters which I really have fun writing. All the cooking stuffs are something that even I myself am struggling to get it right sometimes. The Niximons are modeled based on mermaids and nixies, I have watched Peter Pan (both the cartoon and the movie) but I don't really model the Niximons based on them. Actually, I have help on creating the Niximon...another author (**_Digiscanner-Shonen_**) helped me out with the Niximons.

**_Quinton Notwen_** – Based on what you've said, I could actually see that what I've meant to be a filler chapter is actually a somewhat wholesome one. :) Anyway thanks for the review. You'll be seeing more of the 'pin-striped' demon in the future...way future, as he's a highly ranked one and I plan to go through the Legion of Darkness ranks one by one...while skipping one demon in favor of another. The five Legions between the upper three and Dragomon will be written in not according to their rank, as there will be more twist and turn among them. Stay tune.

**_Bluesv20_** – (read through the list and grins) Firstly thanks for checking out my fic every now and then for update. And the list! Thanks. Everyone will eventually digivolve into their natural ultimate forms as the story enters its middle third part.


	24. The Dark Shroud

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 24 – The Dark Shroud _**

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Dragomon rose slowly from the depth of the sea, sending waters cascading down his slimy torso and extremities and into the water. With composed glee, the undersea master observed the island with a pair of glowing red eyes which scrutinized every detail of his minions' success in terrorizing the island. Dragomon saw that his three minions had leveled three regions of the island while his allies haunted the rest with their accursed songs.

Spreading his wings wide over the air Dragomon then used his massive stature to eclipse the pale midnight moonlight, causing the File Island to be shadowed by the darkness. The moonlight illuminated Dragomon's outline from behind, causing his presence to cast an eerie aura on the surrounding darkness of midnight time. His eyes then flashed bright crimson as he raised his right arm, which held a long silver trident. After raising his tentacled arm Dragomon began chanting in an unknown language, before ending it with a line of a much more common one.

"World of darkness, release your power over this land!" he exclaimed, and waved his trident towards File Island.

The trident immediately pulsed with faint purple glow before letting out faint black waves of light towards the island. The obsidian light blanketed the island and its whole surrounding, causing the island to eerily began losing its color and warmth...turning into a cold, gloomy area of darkness.

Dragomon let out a brief laugh before composing himself. He thought silently, "_Now would be a perfect time to strike. The DigiDestined, Mermaidmon, the renegade Hookmon...nobody will expect what I am having in my mind."_

From behind of the undersea master, a strange whirlpool spun steadily.

It was the Dark Whirlpool.

* * *

"Thunder Javelin!"

"Darkstrom!"

The vicious battle between the two ultimate level serpents – MegaSeadramon and WaruSeadramon – raged on as they took their fight away from the island and the frozen Bane Buccaneer. MegaSeadramon was strong, but WaruSeadramon proved to be the more superior judging by the amounts of scorch marks and wounds present on their bodies. The former had one fin torn, with lacerations evident on various parts of his body, his green hair singed and his golden helmet now sported streaks of scratch marks, while the latter was still physically well, save for a long gash mark on the white region of his serpentine torso.

There was one more disadvantage that MegaSeadramon had, that WaruSeadramon hadn't.

Their attribute differences played a major role in this fight. As a data type Digimon, MegaSeadramon was at a severe disadvantage against his virus-type opponent. However this fact didn't hold him back at all in giving his best shot.

After all, his life, and his crews' lives, depended on it.

"WaruSeadramon...here's a surprise for you! Mega Ice Blast!" shouted MegaSeadramon as he intertwined his tail onto WaruSeadramon's tail.

WaruSeadramon merely scoffed and made no major effort in moving away; he also possessed ice-type attack and MegaSeadramon's ice attack would be useless should the data-type wanted to freeze him.

However, that was not what MegaSeadramon had in mind, when he felt a piercing pain being jabbed on his stomach. To his surprise, MegaSeadramon had fashioned his Mega Ice Blast to have a very sharp end. WaruSeadramon's underestimation had given MegaSeadramon the upper hand as proved by the result of his attack. Thick clear liquid oozed out from the wound site, and MegaSeadramon immediately moved away from his dark twin to admire the effect of his deed.

"That'll teach you to look down on me! And take this...Thunder Javelin!"

MegaSeadramon energized the zigzagged horn on his helmet, calling upon the power of lightning from the heavens above. A bolt of lightning suddenly zapped down from the sky and onto the horn. MegaSeadramon then flicked his head slightly to the front and blasted the distracted WaruSeadramon with the attack. It was that attack which caused the gash mark on the virus's body.

It was fortunate that seawater didn't make as good conductor as plain water, as the result of the Thunder Javelin would be more severe should it was. WaruSeadramon was only mildly shocked, thanks to his strength and sturdiness. Any attack that MegaSeadramon could use against him would be reduced in effect due to their differences in attribute types.

"Pitiful. You should know better than to attempt such a _frail_ attack. Let me show you how it's done instead...Darkstrom!"

"No way am I letting you demonstrate a _tardy_ attack like that! Mega Ice Blast!"

WaruSeadramon's Darkstrom was in the form of giant tidal waves appearing out of nowhere, which he willed freely against his enemy. This time, he wanted the waves to crush MegaSeadramon using pure force. However it was smart of MegaSeadramon to opt in using his ice blast technique, as the waves instantly froze upon colliding with the ice blasts. MegaSeadramon then shot a well-aimed Thunder Javelin towards the frozen wave, causing it to smash into tiny splinters which rained onto WaruSeadramon's body, causing the dark serpent to roar in pain.

"Hah! That's frail for you!" MegaSeadramon shouted, seeing that the odds now turned into his favor.

WaruSeadramon groaned and was almost prepared to launch a counter attack when suddenly a dark shadow blanketed the area where he and MegaSeadramon were. Confused, both Digimon looked up and saw strange wave of black light coming from a direction far from the scuffle site and seemed to be heading towards the island. The shadow caused everything to lose its color; now both MegaSeadramon and WaruSeadramon looked almost like they consisted of only the colors white and different shades of grey and black. WaruSeadramon's colors were relatively darker than MegaSeadramon, but that was as far as the differences went...it was even more difficult to distinguish who was who.

And it was on that very time when somebody decided to join in the fight, and became confused of their identicalness.

"Uh...which one of you boys is MegaSeadramon? It's kind of hard to determine with the lack of color."

Turning around, they saw a mermaid dressed in pirate-like costume, holding a grey anchor which seemed to glitter. She was half human from waist up, and a sleek black fish tail formed her lower body. She had a confused expression on her pallid skin as her eyes darted from one Ultimate to the other.

"And what happen to all the colors on you? I remember you being red with that shining golden helmet?"

"Mermaidmon!" MegaSeadramon exclaimed instantly. And his voice turned dry when he added, "Speak for yourself. You're not exactly colorful either."

Mermaidmon smiled. "That sounds like the Hookmon I know. So what happened here? I was just swimming here to help you out when I noticed this shadow that just shot across the sky. After that, the colors' are all gone!"

"Your guess is just as good as mine." MegaSeadramon shrugged. "But I appreciate your coming here to help."

"It's my pleasure." The mermaid then glanced towards WaruSeadramon, who was recovering from the wounds inflicted on him by MegaSeadramon. "Is he an evil twin of yours, MegaSeadramon?"

"No. I'd be shamed all across the seven seas if he is."

WaruSeadramon's head snapped up instantly as he scoffed. "Are you insinuating that I'm weaker than you? You...a pitiful data who is inferior to a strong virus one like me? I can't even be compared to the likes of you contemptible _sea mollusks_."

Both MegaSeadramon and Mermaidmon were both appalled by the spiteful comment.

"Wretch!" MegaSeadramon hissed venomously.

"SEA MOLLUSKS? Oh that does it buster...you're WAY out of your line!" Mermaidmon screamed angrily.

WaruSeadramon sneered. "Bring it on, fish-baits!"

Mermaidmon, fuming, raised her anchor up and cried, "Northern Cross Bomber!"

MegaSeadramon followed up with his trademark attack. "Thunder Javelin!"

WaruSeadramon smirked and fired a powered up version of his... "Darkstrom!"

Both attacks shot straight forward and coalesced with each other. Thunder and water merged into one powerful assault and caused an explosion as it rammed onto WaruSeadramon's gigantic generated waves, which were bigger than before. Splashes of water ensued from the burst, but the attacks only cancelled out each other instead of inflicting damage on either side of the party. All three competitors were still charged up.

"This is going to get real ugly soon..." Mermaidmon muttered.

* * *

"Hey...who turned off the color?" Kira asked when everything around her lost the usual vibrant colors. She was currently riding on Kyubimon, in pursuit of the Niximons who all had spread out all over the island when suddenly, a dark shadow went past them and took out the colors of everything around them, (or lack thereof as it was still night). Her eyes took in the dullness of her own hands, dress before finally settling on Kyubimon's fur, which had somehow changed from its usual golden glory into a lifeless yellow-grey hue. Frowning, she commented, "I feel like I'm in a black-and-white movie or something."

"I do not know, but I feel that this must be Dragomon's doing," Kyubimon replied simply, and accelerated her running speed.

Kira grimaced and decided to let the matter rest as she clung closer to her partner, gripping onto the furs of the kitsune's neck with one hand, while the other was holding her hat on her head. Her eyes then caught a few movements on the sky, and the girl held a breath as two familiar ghost-like female creatures glided down towards them. Kyubimon skidded to a halt, with her nine tails suddenly lifted and flared with white blue flames.

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

Nine flames sailed out from Kyubimon's tails smoothly with steady speed, and Kira marveled upon the fact that the flames didn't seem to harm her at all while they brushed against the tip of her hat and shoulders. However, the same couldn't be said for the Niximons as the nine fireballs rammed into one of the two Niximons that came towards them, and evaporated it from existence instantly.

Kyubimon glanced behind and met her partner's gaze with her steely blue eyes. "Kira, I need you to get down from me for a moment."

"...Sure," Kira said, and leapt down from the fox instantly. As her feet touched the ground, she unfortunately lost her balance and fell on her hind with a short gasp. However, she was unhurt and if Kyubimon was amused by the sudden clumsiness of her partner, she didn't show it with her words.

"Are you alright?"

Kira groaned, and looked up. "I'm ok... LOOK OUT!"

Kyubimon saw how Kira's eyes widened with fear and sensed an unwanted presence close by. Calmly she closed her eyes and her body lit with intense blue flames. Remembering that one of the Niximon was still around, Kyubimon was still on-guard, and as she soared towards the sky she could hear that the remaining Niximon gasped and tried to escape. The nymph's effort proved futile as Kyubimon jetted through the Niximon, burning the water creature with her powerful Dragon Wheel attack. The unfortunate Niximon let out a dying screech before her data evaporated onto the sky, and Kyubimon landed on the ground on her feet.

Kira, already had gotten up from her fall, smiled as she wiped some dirt off her pink pinafore-dress. "That's two down."

"And a whole lot more to go," Kyubimon finished with a wry smile. "Let's get going."

As the two of them set off in chase for more of the Niximons, they wondered of how the other DigiDestined were faring at the moment. Earlier, the five DigiDestined decided to split up to cover more grounds and to help out the File Islanders from the sudden invasion. Kira and Kyubimon were given the sole task to track down the Niximons and to delete them. Jon and Kanto, along with their partners, headed for Andromon's factory to assist the mechanical Digimon there fighting one of Dragomon's ultimate-level lackeys (with the side-task of deleting every Niximon they encountered as well, to make it easier for Kira and Kyubimon). And as for the two eldest DigiDestined...

* * *

"Desolation Claw!"

Scorpiomon was hit squarely on its head with a particular vicious attack and stumbled backward as Greymon and Garurumon leapt forward, sending out a flaming ball and a streak of ice-cold beam to further overwhelm the scorpion monster. Greymon and Garurumon looked over the sky and saw a familiar presence taking form of an armored dragon warrior with crimson wings.

"It's Cyberdramon!" Greymon rejoiced. "Now, we have a chance to beat Scorpiomon!"

Garurumon nodded happily. "Our protégé couldn't have a more perfect timing than this. We're going to win this one for sure!"

"Yeah...I just wish Monzaemon's here to witness this," Greymon said glumly. Garurumon grimaced and lowered his head sadly upon the mention of the leader of the Toy Town's name.

Earlier, Greymon, Garurumon and Monzaemon had teamed up together to fight Scorpiomon, with the help of the quartet team of Tentomon, Biyomon, Palmon and Gomamon. The Rookies provided the distraction for the stronger Champions and Ultimate to bring out the firepower. For a while it was a good strategy, but Scorpiomon was a tough Digimon with strong exoskeleton protecting its body; it would take more than mere distractions to actually harm Scorpiomon, and it had easily brushed aside Greymon's strong fireball and Garurumon's chilly assault. The scorpion then swiped the Champions and Rookies away easily with its tail before facing off against Monzaemon.

The teddy bear Digimon, not a fighting-type, didn't stand much of a chance but was fearless nevertheless. Trying his Heart Attack onto the evil ultimate Digimon, Monzaemon's effort proved futile as with one clean swipe with its pincers, Scorpiomon slashed the teddy bear into half, killing him instantly. The rest of the Digimon were outraged by the heartless killing and jumped in to take Scorpiomon out when Cyberdramon made his presence known.

The two partners of Cyberdramon, Max and Darien, came into the charred town, both panting and sweating heavily. From the looks of it they had been running down from the resort they were at all the way to Toy Town to keep up with their fused partners.

"Ha! I beat you here, Max," Darien said, grinning as he wiped the sweat on his forehead with the sleeves of his black shirt.

Max glared at him while taking a few deep breath. "I didn't say that I want to race with you," he said finally. "I was trying to keep up with Cyberdramon."

"Yeah... but I still win."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Then he looked on ahead, where Scorpiomon was battling with Cyberdramon, Greymon and Garurumon. As the battle went on, Scorpiomon seemed to take the liberty of destroying the town as well with its tail, while countering its opponents' attacks with its pincers. "What happened here? Cyberdramon should've beaten that scorpion by now. I mean, he defeated Phelesmon and that devil's supposed to be stronger than that...monster."

"Ah... give him time there, Max," said Darien confidently.

"That scorpion is destroying the village!"

"Oh...point taken," Darien said sheepishly. He then cupped his hands on his mouth and yelled out loudly, "Cyberdramon! Hurry up and take down the big insect now will you? It is destroying the village while fighting the three of you!"

"I'm having my hands full now over here!" Cyberdramon shouted back, while countering a vicious slice made by Scorpiomon with his armored arm.

"I shall crush you all!" Scorpiomon roared. "Tail Blade!"

Raising its tail upward, Scorpiomon fired a blue sickle-shaped projectile onto Cyberdramon's chest, sending him flying away and crashing onto one of the building there. The building, already looked like it had seen better days, crumbled down instantly and buried Cyberdramon under the rubbles.

"That's what happens to those against Lord Dragomon! And as for you pathetic vaccine Champions..."

Scorpiomon then fired another volley of his Tail Blade attack towards Greymon and Garurumon, sending both of them tumbling over the grounds. The two champion-level Digimon tried to get up, but found them being drained out of power.

"...you're all no match for a strong data-type like ME! I'll finish you all, starting with that Cyberdramon. Lord Dragomon will be so pleased to hear that the one who is responsible for slaying the infamous Phelesmon perishes under my mighty pincers!"

"Cyberdramon!" Darien shouted worriedly. "Buddy...you have to get up quick!"

"Come on, Cyberdramon!" Max cried.

"We have to do something!" Biyomon cried despairingly.

"What can we do? We're no match for an ultimate Digimon on our own. We can distract it...but that's all we can do," Tentomon said.

Palmon cowered slightly upon observing Scorpion advancing towards the three defeated Digimon. "Those boys better get up quick if they don't want to be Scorpiomon's dinner!"

"Hey...just who's the joker here?" Gomamon said dryly before he sighed, "If only we can digivolve again..."

"Hey look over there!" Darien called, and motioned towards the sky. His voice instantly attracted everyone's attention.

Everyone followed his gaze and gasped as they saw a strange wave of darkness sweeping down from the sky. Behind the wave, everything seemed to have lost their color and brilliance. The moonlight seemed to be merely a glitter of grayish-white light, and the originally maroon sky was now deep gray.

* * *

Despite the grimmer outcome at Toy Town, things were looking up at the region where Andromon's factory was. The residents there were winning in their fight against the viral Zudomon who invaded their sanctuary, and right now with the addition of two of the DigiDestined Digimon – Dinohumon and Wizardmon – things seemed to be going in the good guys' favor.

Zudomon found himself at a serious disadvantage. His Chrome Digizoid hammer no more in his possession, he had no other means to defend himself other than his sharp horns, tusks and claws. His massive stature still gave him an edge against his smaller opponents, but that too proved to be his setback, as he was limited in movement and agility. However if Zudomon decided to play to his strength then his size would be of great help.

_Well,_ he thought. _If they've taken my weapon then I'll have to use brute force to turn the tides against them! _

The mammalian turtle then leapt into the air, surprising everyone in the vicinity as he loomed down towards the good Digimon. Baring his tusk viciously, his horn glittered with energy sparks that suddenly came into life as he was closer to the Guardromons, Andromon and Clockmon. Landing on the ground Zudomon caused a rather moderate shook on the ground due to his heavy weight, causing the Guardomons to fall into lumps on top of one another. Buzzing sounds were heard, indicating that the Guardromons were malfunctioned.

_Good, and now for the grand wave. _

Zudomon's crouched down, bared his big tusks and shouted, "Horn and Tusk!"

What he did afterwards was least expected. The titanic Digimon then used his tusks to ram onto the pile of Guardromons, and pushed them against Andromon and Clockmon. Thunderbolt zapped down from the dark heavens and energized his zigzagged horn, and Zudomon laughed evilly.

"You think you have defeated me simply by taking away my hammer?" he asked darkly. "Well...think about that after I do this!" Zudomon's horn then released a streak of thunderbolt towards the Guardromons, Andromon and Clockmon. The Guardromons, being the closest with the monster, were shocked and all of them blanched severely. Their rusty bodies shook as Zudomon's thunderbolt electrocuted them into no end until all of them exploded into data. More surprises were made as Zudomon then opened his jaw and shot both his tusks towards Andromon and Clockmon. While Andromon managed to counter the tusk with his Lightning Blade, Clockmon was not as fortunate. The tusk staked him on the chest from the front to the back, and Clockmon suffered the most painful deletion of all. Zudomon then did the unthinkable and devoured the now-free data of the Guardromons and Clockmon.

Andromon stared at Zudomon's display of cruelty placidly. "My comrades have fallen nobly, but I will not stand for this. Your act of devouring their data is despicable and heinous. I will not stand for this!"

Leomon and Ogremon stood at Andromon's sides. "We're with you, Andromon. This oversized turtle will need to be taught a lesson."

"Oh cut the prep talk Leomon...I'd say we delete him instantly!" Ogremon shouted.

From the orifices of Andromon's metallic mask both Champions could see his eyes narrowing...a sign of silent rage. "Very well, my friends... let us fight hand-in-hand to defeat this monster."

"We'll help too." Both Dinohumon and Wizardmon said simultaneously. Then Wizardmon turned towards Kanto and Jon. "You two better get inside the factory. I feel that there's going to be an intense battle coming soon."

Kanto hesitated, but Jon seemed to agree whole-heartedly with Wizardmon's suggestion as he tugged the taller boy by his vest towards the entrance of the factory. Two Mekanorimons blocked their way, but Andromon quickly cleared the access for them.

"I don't like this," Kanto grumbled as he peered outside through the door which was left ajar. "Staying inside here I mean...while our partners are out fighting that big turtle. I want to be out there to help."

Jon smiled faintly at the strawberry blonde's comment. "I understand how you feel. I want to help too...but perhaps we're more of a disruption than actual assistance to our partners if we're outside."

"Uh...come again?"

"By being outside on our own, we're going to hinder our partners in looking out for us. After all, we're only humans."

Kanto grunted but couldn't help but to agree with the blonde's logic. He looked longingly outside, where the battle had begun between the good Digimon and Zudomon. "But still..."

The two Mekanorimons guards - grey, robotic Digimon with metallic limbs, the upper limbs being constructed longer than the lower ones – observed the two humans closely with their eyes (one Mekanorimon had only one eye instead of a pair, which peered out from the orifice located on the upper chest part of their bodies). Suddenly they beeped, and the blue sphere-like glass surfaces on their bodies shifted backward with a soft hiss, revealing compartments inside of them.

"Hey, would you look at that..." Jon nudged Kanto and pointed towards the compartments.

Kanto saw the compartments, and suddenly he had a devilish look on his face. "Jon, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"What?" Jon said distractedly, his eyes still fixed on the compartments. He then saw the look on Kanto's face and sweatdropped. "No...way..."

"Oh, come on..."

"Who do you think we are? The Super Sentai Taskforce?"

"No..." Kanto grinned. "We're the DigiDestined! Now are you coming or what?"

"They are Digimon, Kanto! We can't just pilot them like they are some non-sentient, inanimate beings."

"Ok, now you're confusing me, but I think I get what you mean. But I guess it'd be fun to do so...I mean, I've always wanted to do this after watching those Sentai shows on TV."

"_Then...get in."_

The two boys were immediately perplexed by the sudden reply, which was mechanical-sounding and came simultaneously from the two Mekanorimons. They examined the two robots closely, and saw how the red orb implanted on their torso glowed slightly.

"Uh...did you just say that?" Jon asked the Mekanorimons.

"_Affirmative."_ With the speech, the red orb glowed again.

"Do you want us to pilot you two?" Kanto confirmed; his tone barely contained his excitement.

"_Affirmative. We want... help. But we cannot. Not without...pilots. Andromon...not program us...battle evil Digimon."_

"This is interesting...it looks like they're programmed with limited speech, judging from their sentences and..."

"Jon, they want us to ride on them! How cool can this be? We finally get to be on action as well!" Kanto cut his words excitedly.

"_We...glad to help."_

Jon looked at the Mekanorimons apprehensively. "Is it safe?"

"_We...protect you. Want to help...DigiDestined."_

Kanto grinned. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Jon sighed, defeated. "Fine, we'll pilot them. But how are we going to get up and in there?"

As if in response, the Mekanorimons' metallic arms sprung to life as they enclosed themselves around Kanto and Jon's bodies, lifting them gently from the floor and placed them inside the inner compartments. After both Jon and Kanto were inside, the glass surface slid frontward once more, enclosing the compartments. Inside, the control panels with buttons labeled with specific commands came into life.

Jon smiled delightfully as he tried to learn the functions of the buttons, which had nearly obliterated the factory's door when he pressed the button labeled with the words Twin Beam. The Mekanorimon he was piloting had fired off a beam of red light from its mouth as the result. For five minutes, both boys tried to get used to maneuvering the Mekanorimons until they had gotten the hang of it.

"All systems go, I guess." Jon announced, and he sweatdropped upon hearing Kanto's reply.

"Hey, nice stereo!"

Outside the factory, the battle between Zudomon and the good Digimon ensued. After Clockmon's deletion Zudomon had retrieved his Chrome Digizoid hammer and was now a much more formidable foe. He sent off earthquakes one after another by beating the grounds repeatedly, flustering his five opponents profusely.

Dinohumon and Wizardmon both leapt forward towards the titan, blades and staff ready to unleash their strongest attacks. Dinohumon's blades erupted with fire while Wizardmon's staff crackled with electricity.

"Lizard Dance!"

"Thunder Blaster!"

Zudomon amusedly countered both attacks with one clean swipe of his hammer, sending both data Digimon flying away. Andromon, Leomon and Ogremon then marched forward, firing their Lightning Blade, Fist of the Beast King and Pummel Whack respectively towards Zudomon. However Zudomon lazily blocked all three attacks by spinning around, letting his hardened spiked shell to take all the blows.

"Is that the best you can do? Hammer Spark!" he bellowed, thumping the ground. The shockwave accompanying the attack caused the three Digimon to tumble backwards, while the yellow spark of energy resulted from it severed all three of them. The metallic armors on Andromon's body were chipped on various parts, revealing more flesh than before. Both Leomon and Ogremon were much more severely hurt as they were lower in power and level. Lacerations were seen everywhere on their bare bodies, while their hairs were burnt.

In the meantime, Wizardmon and Dinohumon toppled onto the ground near the factory. As they were about to get up, dual voices greeted them.

"Hey guys... need some help?"

Both Champions were surprised to see two Mekanorimons stepping out from the factory. However what was more curious about it was the casualness of the robotic Digimon in asking them...sounding very much-like human. Not to mention the voices were familiar too, although slightly muffled. Wizardmon peered close towards the two Digimon and noticed that they were not the ones talking.

"Kanto!" he realized. "Are you inside?"

"Yup!" came the proud reply. "And I'm ready to help you out, Wizardmon!"

"Don't tell me you are inside the other Mekanorimon, Jon," Dinohumon said anxiously.

"It wasn't my idea," Jon replied back. "Kanto's the brainy one in this."

"Hey! We're in this together, Jon."

"It's dangerous for you two to be doing this," Wizardmon said, trying to talk the two boys out of their mission. "Zudomon's a very strong opponent. Didn't you see how he single-handedly deleted all those Guardromons? I'm afraid that two Mekanorimons won't pose much of a challenge to him."

"_We beg...to differ."_

The comment caused Wizardmon to start slightly. "It talks?"

"Looks like you've made them miffed, Wizardmon," Kanto said.

"I'm speaking the truth. Guardromons and Mekanorimons are pretty much the same...both are champion-level, virus-type, mechanical Digimon."

"But Wizardmon...we want to help," Kanto insisted.

"You know what Wizardmon...you're probably right," said Jon, as the blue glass on one Mekanorimon's head slid open, revealing the blonde boy inside.

"Jon! Are you chickening out from this?" Kanto roared.

"No, I'm being sensible, Kanto. Wizardmon's right. If Zudomon could take out _five_ Guardromons at one go, what chances do two Mekanorimons have?"

The Mekanorimons beeped in protest, while Dinohumon and Wizardmon awaited Kanto's response with anticipation, hoping that Jon would manage to persuade Kanto from joining the battle. However, the strawberry-blonde was adamant in his decision.

"Ok, fine! If you don't want to go out there, that's your choice. I won't force you...but I won't stand back and do nothing. Mekanorimon, let's go!"

With that, the Mekanorimon piloted by Kanto took off, leaving a very stunned Jon, Dinohumon and Wizardmon. Jon looked helplessly at the two champion Digimon, with an expression that asked for their opinions on this matter.

Wizardmon sighed. "I have to go after him." He flew off as well, leaving Dinohumon and Jon.

"Dinohumon, what should I do?"

The dino-human shrugged. "Do what you think is right for you, Jon. Personally I don't want to see you go out there and risk your life, but it's your choice. But as for me, I have to go. Zudomon must be stopped." Dinohumon then leapt away, leaving Jon to make his decision.

As he was contemplating his decision, a wave of darkness swept past the vicinity and to Jon's surprise, it drained everything off their colors – leaving only dullness and monotony. Feeling a sense of dread in his heart, Jon knew what he had to do.

"Hey, wait for me!"

* * *

Kira and Kyubimon arrived at a deserted clearing after following a trail of a very familiar haunting song. They were following it for some time now, and it had led them to the clearing.

"I don't see anybody around here," Kira said, scanning her surrounding. "Are you sure you've taken us to the right place?"

Kyubimon's ears flicked irritably. "My ears cannot be wrong. I know somebody is around here."

Kira slid down the golden fox carefully, this time around landing on her feet. "I heard them too...but where are they?"

"Listen. The songs are getting louder..." Kyubimon shot glances around her suspiciously. They were at a large clearing, with trees surrounding them. In the middle of the clearing were formations of stones, built in a rather haphazard manner. "I do not like this; we could very well be inside a trap."

Sounds of laughter came from the sky. Looking up, they saw five Niximons descending down from the sky. Colors drained from their face as more Niximons emerged from the trees.

"We're surrounded!" Kira gasped nervously. "What should we do? There are... FIFTEEN of them?"

"Take cover at the stone formations, Kira! I will cover you, but hurry!" Kyubimon shouted.

"But will you be ok, Kyubimon?"

Kyubimon's expression softened upon hearing the concern coming from Kira. "Have faith in me, my partner. I will not disappoint you. Now go."

Kira immediately ran towards the stone formations, which was a hundred meters ahead from them, with Kyubimon raising her nine tails, ready to strike any Niximon who dared to pursue her partner. However the Niximons seemed to be uninterested with Kira as they hovered around Kyubimon. After Kira had safely arrived at the stone formations Kyubimon turned to face the fifteen Niximons hovering on her.

"Alright, you insufferable wretches! It is now between the fifteen of you, and me."

However, much to Kyubimon's irritation the Niximons bawled into shrieks of laughter. Their ghastly features rocked back and forth in midair as some of them pointed towards the stone formations. Suspiciously Kyubimon narrowed her eyes, thinking that they were aiming for Kira...but a shrill scream from Kira nearly caused Kyubimon to jump in surprise.

Feeling a sense of dread, Kyubimon turned...and saw Kira running out from the stone formations, with two Digimon pursuing her. One of them looked like a dull-red Ogremon, and the other was a bigger minotaur-like Digimon. Both Digimon demonstrated signs of being controlled by the Niximons judging from their rather sluggish manner, but they were both formidable opponents and Kira was in danger.

"Kyubimon...help me!"

* * *

Dragomon watched from afar as the whole of File Island and the nearby regions around the island enveloped by a massive dome made out of darkness. From the viewing orb he noted with satisfaction how his minions were successfully progressing in battling the DigiDestined and the residents of File Island.

Scorpiomon seemed to be the most successful among his three minions, seemingly had won the battle it was having with Cyberdramon, Greymon and Garurumon. With nobody else to challenge it, Scorpiomon then resorted in demolishing the whole of Toy Town.

WaruSeadramon seemed to be handling MegaSeadramon and Mermaidmon excellently, despite the latter's teaming up against him.

Zudomon fared satisfactorily; his size and brute strength was his asset in his fight against Andromon and his allies. Despite some earlier setbacks, it seemed that Zudomon was gradually picking up.

And the sheer number of the Niximons seemed to be taking the toll out of the female team of the DigiDestined, who sought them all out single-handedly. Dragomon thought that nobody could have been more foolish. But then again, this was the pair that had defeated the defector IceDevimon earlier...it was foolish to undermine their strength. Dragomon kept an interest eye on the pair...as they were a part of his fallback plan should anything go wrong.

Should being the key word here...Dragomon had no intention of making any mistake.

He was ecstatic. His plan was going on unbelievably well. "I believe now is the perfect time for the lord of the undersea to make his grand entrance, as the Shroud of Darkness will drain all the powers of good and pave path for me to take over. Then I will banish the whole island into the World of Darkness... along with the inhabitants in it!"

Suddenly Dragomon caught something that was amiss inside his viewing orb. A faint golden glow, coming from the frozen vessel belonged to the renegade pirate. Amidst the darkness he had created with the shroud, the golden glow stood out like a sore tentacle.

"The Golden Digicore!"

* * *

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**Author's Note:**

Keep an eye out for the finale of the Dragomon's arc next chapter. Something good and something bad will happen. I won't say what for now, though.

For those who don't know what is _'Super Sentai Taskforce'_ Jon and Kanto are talking about...they are what the Power Rangers are derived from. From what I know they are quite popular in the nineties. Both series are properties of whoever that comes up with the ideas.

Thanks for all the reviews, guys! It really makes me eager to keep going, and I have so many plans for this fic!

**_Bluesv20, dark672, takusi_** – Thanks for reviewing! And takusi...welcome to Legends of the DigiDestined!

**_Roby Murphy_** – Ah...I won't spoil the finale of Dragomon's arc here. A Digivolution will happen, though. But who...you'll just have to wait and see.

**_Kwaii Mew-Mew_** – I see that a name change has happened again. :)

**_Jack the ripper_** – The songs used by the Niximons are called the Ghastly Symphony. It's an attack name made up by me. And as for the Golden Digicore thing...I think I've been using this phrase a lot by now... you'll have to wait and see :)

**_Yami Vizzini_** – Welcome Yami, to Legends of the DigiDestined! You're the first one to ask this important question, and I'll be glad to answer it (partially though, as I don't want to spoil the whole story. Hope you'll understand). Ok...in the prologue, only seven spirits managed to go past Omnimon and into the Wall of Fire – with five entering the wall freely while two were practically forced by Apocalymon. However, I think you might have noticed how little I've written about Omnimon, or Agumon and Gabumon, these past few chapters. In the prologue, Apocalymon's final attack seemed to be the end of Omnimon; however in chapter ten Omnimon makes a comeback. What's going on, you might ask. Something else must have happened.

The best I can explain for now is that the three remaining spirits still live on after the fight, and Apocalymon has crafted them to be more unique than the other seven. The opening for chapter two is vaguely written on purpose. Agumon and Gabumon will explain more about this in future, but I can say this thing: the span between the emergence of ten spirits from the Wall of Fire, and the actual time when they actually took form of demonic Digimon is indefinite yet, but ten years have passed since their emergence.

I won't say who's the major five, the minor two, and the special three yet...but there are hints being dropped by in the previous chapters. Look for the parts where Dragomon is reminiscing about his status and role (he seems to spend a lot of time doing that). The Dark One is a unique Legion; I'll only say that for now.

Am I confusing you? If so...then don't worry about it. Just sit back, and let me explain it in written chapters.


	25. The Darkness before the Dawn, part I

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 25 – The Darkness before Dawn, Part I_**

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Deep within the frozen Bane Buccaneer, a soft glow of golden light came from the lower floor.

The glow originated from Hookmon's private chamber, from a black chest on top of a wooden desk. A burst of light ensued and the ice around the room broke. The chest opened and revealed the glowing Golden Digicore of Huanlongmon. The yellowish red hue of the Digicore turned into gold and a small apparition of a golden-scaled dragon appeared within the Digicore.

"It is time," it said simply, and disappeared.

Then, the core let out a brilliant wave of light which instantly melted all the ice around and evaporated the waters resulted from the ice. The wave shot out from every open windows of the vessel and revived all the frozen Digimon which had nearly came close to death. The ice then shot out from the vessel and began to move towards File Island, letting out a soft hum of what sounded like a loud gust of wind.

* * *

Kira's desperate cry of help shocked Kyubimon. Turning around, she saw a Minotarumon and a Fugamon chasing Kira out from the stone formation. Both looked like they were under the control of the Niximons, whom all had regrouped on the nearest tree branches to watch the outcome. She paled; there was no time for her to save Kira and handle the Niximons altogether. The Niximons too, saw her plight, and were not going to make it easier for her.

However, trying her luck Kyubimon immediately lit up all her nine tails, using her ranged attack to her advantage. "Leave Kira alone!" she yelled loudly. "Kira, DUCK!"

The young girl, seeing the flaring tails of her partner, immediately lunged onto the ground, not caring the fact that it had resulted in a bruise on her knees and some ripping on her dress. As soon as Kira was safe on the ground, Kyubimon released her Fox Tail Inferno towards Minotarumon and Fugamon. The fireballs jetted across the battlefield, nearly brushing over the top of Kira's hat before they slammed onto their targets.

Unfortunately, the nine fireballs bounced off the two Digimon harmlessly. Fugamon swatted two fireballs with his sharp club, while Minotarumon blocked some other two with his Gatling-clad hands. All Kyubimon's attack had done was to halt them momentarily, but with that away they were able to proceed to their target. Though, Kyubimon's attack had done nothing but to aggravate them even further.

Kyubimon rushed to save Kira, but three Niximons blocked her path and sprayed jets of water onto her. She was sent skidding towards a nearby tree, and her fine coat was soaked with water. Her vision obscured, Kyubimon grew frantic of not being able to watch over Kira.

Kira cringed as she saw Minotarumon and Fugamon approaching. She closed her eyes as her body shook in fear.

"Aerial Attack!"

Suddenly, two white energy balls shot down from the sky. One of them blasted onto Fugamon and threw the fire ogre backward towards the stone formation. Minotarumon, the stronger of the two, was able to resist the blow, but the mysterious energy ball had nevertheless slowed him down even more. His body bore evidence of the force of the energy ball in the form of a giant scorch mark stretched from his neck to the upper part of his abdomen.

Kira looked up, and saw a winged light-grey steed swooping down from the sky. It was Unimon. The winged unicorn loomed towards her and landed gracefully with his long tail facing Kira. The steed then turned his helmeted head towards her, fixing her with a stern glare. Kira's heart thumped wildly, thinking that Unimon might have fallen into the Niximons' spell as well. However, by observing his eyes and what he said to her next, this Unimon still kept full control on himself.

"Quickly child," said Unimon. "On my back... it is dangerous for you to be here."

"But, Kyubimon...she's..." Kira pointed weakly towards Kyubimon, who was surrounded by the Niximons.

"I will assist her, but you on the other hand will deter her if you are exposed to danger. Now get on me," Unimon said again sternly. He lowered his body to make it easier for Kira to mount him while keeping alert for any sign of action from Minotarumon and Fugamon.

Kira quickly did as he was told, and with a loud neigh Unimon took off to the sky. Gasping, Kira grabbed hold on Unimon's hair, which despite the shroud of darkness over the island, was pretty much recognizable as being yellow. For a moment, all danger forgotten, Kira felt enthralled of the sensation of really flying on a unicorn, but was snapped back to reality when Unimon halted in midair.

In front of them, three Niximons were floating by. Each bored their large eyes onto Unimon and sang with a deep sorrowful tune. Their faces then contorted into hideous expressions, and Kira flinched. She knew exactly what the Niximons had in mind. It brought back to her mind her brief spitefulness towards Jon and Kanto, and she didn't like that.

"Unimon, be careful. Those songs can possess you," Kira warned. Her heart thumped faster as Unimon didn't reply. She feared for the worst. "Unimon?"

The unicorn hovered motionlessly in midair, as more and more Niximons surrounded them. Kira was worried; if Unimon fell onto their spell then it would mean the end to her. However, her doubts were answered when suddenly Unimon's red horn sparked to life. Around Unimon, a thin layer of white light appeared and returned the color to his body. Kira could easily identify his light violet body, dark grey wings, red helmet and yellow mane and tail. The colors on Kira too had returned.

"Sacred Blast!" Unimon bellowed, and fired a jet of white electricity from his horn towards one Niximon.

The effect was incredible. Instantly after being shot the Niximon was electrocuted and exploded into bits of data. The others quickly spread out, all glowering hatefully towards the flying unicorn, who looked impassive. It was as if he didn't care.

"Amazing!" Kira said in awe. She was glad that Unimon was on her side. "You've resisted their spell!"

Unimon was amused upon hearing Kira's amazed reaction. "Of course. No mind trick can work against me, especially when it was driven from such silly creatures like the Niximons. Now hold on to me and watch as I dispose these water demons."

Kira then thought about Kyubimon. "Unimon, you must save my partner," she insisted desperately. "She's in danger. Please?"

The unicorn nodded. "Do as I say and I will."

As Kira's grip on his mane tightened Unimon fired again several blast of electricity towards the other Niximons. However, this time around he focused on towards those obstructing his path as he made way towards the fallen Kyubimon. Unimon then saw that Kyubimon was drenched and had to change strategy in order not to harm the golden fox unintentionally. Opening his mouth, he swatted away the three Niximons guarding Kyubimon with three blasts of his Aerial Attack, and landed on the ground.

"Kyubimon!" Kira quickly got down from Unimon, and got to her partner. Kyubimon stood instantly and let herself being hugged by the small girl.

"Kyubimon, we have to work together and dispose these water sprites back to wherever that they come from," Unimon said seriously. He glanced upwards towards the Niximons and let out a gruff neigh. "I will take care of the Niximons, you go and try to hold that Minotarumon and Fugamon off. Keep the girl close to you." Without anymore word, Unimon flew off.

Kira released herself from Kyubimon, and saw two approaching figures coming. "Uh oh, Kyubimon...we've got trouble."

"Stay back!" Kyubimon hissed, and whirled around quickly. Her sense was sharper and had picked up unwanted companies earlier than when Kira had warned her.

Kira took several steps backward, and Kyubimon lit her tails once more. She fired another jet of her Fox Tail Inferno, as she didn't want to resort into killing Minotarumon and Fugamon. Unimon had told her to only hold them off as long as possible. However, if they wanted to harm her and Kira, how long would it take to just hold them off? With this in mind, Kyubimon increased her guard and fired another stream of fireballs.

Both Digimon easily avoided her attack, and rushed towards them. Kyubimon knew that she had to take this a notch higher, and enveloped her body with fire. With her Dragon Wheel, she shot towards Fugamon in a burst of flaming dragon specter while careful not to go through Fugamon's body as it would delete him instantly. She reared slightly upwards, and knocked Fugamon down by slamming onto his head. The fiery ogre rolled on the ground and knocked himself unconscious after slamming against the stone formation.

"Score!" Kira shouted gleefully. "You go, Kyubimon!"

Minotarumon then attempted to attack Kyubimon, and the fox noticed that he was stronger than Fugamon. Carefully avoiding the earthquake generated by the humanoid bull, Kyubimon tried to attack him but her every attempt was countered effortlessly by Minotarumon. She hadn't had enough time to form another Fox Tail Inferno, and was too weak to form the Dragon Wheel.

"Darkside Quake!" Minotarumon shouted, and thumped the ground once more with his Gatling-hand. Kyubimon found herself caught by the intensity of the quake, and tried to jump upward. However Minotarumon was quicker as he rushed to her and delivered a powerful punch onto her body.

Kyubimon skidded on the ground, and immediately leapt up into the air. '_That's it!'_ she thought fiercely. '_This has gone far enough. I have to end this now lest Kira will be hurt.'_ With that in mind, she rolled towards Minotarumon and prepared to launch yet another Dragon Wheel attack. Her roaring dragon specter form sailed towards Minotarumon. Minotarumon tried to avoid her by launching another earthquake, sending stones and sands towards Kyubimon but the flames of her body protected her from the assault. She then rammed Minotarumon squarely on the head and was pushed backward, while Minotarumon was sent flying towards the stone formation, knocking down one stone formation and blacked out instantly. The kitsune then landed back on her feet, and sighed in relief for being able to avoid killing innocent Digimon. She then looked for Unimon.

Unimon, while a strong Champion, was no match when all the remaining Niximons decided to gang up against him. Seeing as their attempt to control his mind with their songs didn't work, the sprites decided to use force and sent out rains of high-speed water jets towards the proud unicorn. Unimon tried to counter the water attacks with his Aerial Attack, which was an air-based attack with a little portion of holy powers in it, but water prevailed against air and Unimon was pushed backward. Not giving up he tried to electrocute some Niximons, if not all, but only managed to dispose two out of the now remaining eleven Niximons.

"You are really driving out my patience!" Unimon groaned, and summoned more power to his horn. "Sacred Blaster!"

The Niximons evaded the attack with glee and sprayed the Niximons with more water. The Sacred Blaster's electrifying attack managed to delete one Niximon in the process but Unimon himself was now in the danger of being electrocuted. While possessing electric based attack, Unimon could resist it when he was dry. He didn't know what effect it could take when he was wet, but he wasn't going to risk his life to it.

"Aerial Attack!" he shouted, and blasted a Niximon who was hovering near him. The water sprite was merely thrown away towards her other comrades.

The other Niximons then saw their opening, seeing how Unimon hesitated to use his electric attack against them. "Sonic Shriek!"

The Sonic Shriek was an attack when a Niximon would generate a supersonic wave merely by shouting at the top of their voice. It was a devastating attack, which could disorientate a Niximon's foe just by hearing the high-pitched screams and wails. Not really an orthodox method of attacking, it worked nevertheless when a Niximon's rhapsody and water sprays were not strong enough.

And on Unimon, it was ten Niximons using the same attack. Their supersonic, now elevated to hypersonic shrieks all were focused on the champion Digimon who had no means of evading. His senses disrupted, Unimon lost his control over his wings and plummeted down from the sky. He crashed on the ground near to where Kira and Kyubimon were standing, creating a small crater the size of his body in the process.

"Oh no! Unimon's been defeated!" Kira gasped, clasping her mouth with her hands. Both girl and Digimon then peered over the small crater and saw that Unimon was unconscious. "What do we do now?" she asked Kyubimon.

Kyubimon said nothing. She shook in anger, seeing how the one who had come to save them was now the victim of the Niximons' cruelty. The proud unicorn had aided them in their time of great need. It was time for Kyubimon to repay the unicorn's deed.

"It is up to us now," she said softly. Deep down, she knew she was not a match for ten Niximons. She could take on one in a one-on-one, but not ten at once. Besides her powers were weakening as fighting Fugamon and Minotarumon took out a lot from her. She then looked at Kira meaningfully. "Kira, I do not know whether I can defeat the Niximons. I'm not strong enough now, but I will try my best. However, should I fail..."

"Don't speak like that!" Kira snapped suddenly. Her eyes began to brim with tears, and the girl didn't bother to hold them back. "Don't. I trust you, Kyubimon. I know you can do this. You can beat them, I'm sure of it. You've defeated Wendigomon on the day we first met, WE'VE beaten Boogeymon, and you were amazing back then when you beat IceDevimon and saved me from his clutch. What's a few water demons could match against all you've been through? We've come so far, and we're going to go on, so please... don't talk like that. I don't know how I'd react if I lose you."

Kyubimon was moved. She was a tough Digimon, never one who would shed tears unnecessarily. But Kira's speech really touched her. Her eyes too, misted. She bent close to Kira and pulled the girl close to her body using her snout.

"I'm sorry," she said, and a teardrop trickled down her cheek. "That was beautiful, Kira. Thank you..."

"Don't...sweat it," came the muffled reply from Kira, who had her face buried in Kyubimon's thick coat. She then released Kyubimon from her embrace and smiled to the fox. Her eyes however darted towards the sky, and widened. "Kyubimon...look!"

Kyubimon looked up and saw that from afar, a golden light shone. Noises were heard from afar, sounding like roars and explosions. Joyous cries were heard. The golden light grew brighter until Kyubimon and Kira saw a brilliant wave of light coming their way. The Niximons shrieked in fear but generated a water field around themselves to avoid the golden wave from engulfing them. Everything that was touched by the wave was restored of its color and brilliance. The dark shroud had melted thanks to the miraculous wave.

Out of instinct, Kira and Kyubimon both welcomed the golden wave wholeheartedly. The wave engulfed them...

...and all cuts and rips on Kira's dress and body restored back to their former state. Her soiled face, legs and hands were cleansed, and she looked rejuvenated. No longer tired, she looked excitedly at Kyubimon.

Kyubimon was engulfed by the wave too, and instantly her drenched fur dried up. Deep inside, Kyubimon felt a new strength surging. She felt even more energized than before. Her nine tails lit brilliantly with intense white-blue fire and as soon as the wave left them, Kyubimon looked up towards where the Niximons were.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" she shouted, and fired towards the water field which were protecting Niximons multiple times. The first shot was nullified by the water field, but as more and more fireballs were showered towards the water field it was apparent that the field could not take much more of the burning flames. It evaporated instantly, and the ten Niximons inside were instantly blasted with all the fireballs.

The kitsune smirked, and began rushing forward. She saw Unimon leaping out from the crevice he had created from his fall, good as new, and felt relieved. The unicorn's horn sparked and he cast a glance towards Kyubimon, and nodded slightly before taking off towards the sky. Kyubimon understood that Unimon was going to attack the Niximons too, and summoned her replenished power full-force. She wasn't going to hold back this time.

"Now for the finishing blow: Fox Dragon Inferno!" she cried, and turned into a roaring red dragon specter with nine fireballs orbiting around her body.

"Sacred Blast!" Unimon joined in, and electrocuted the ten Niximons. They were not destroyed, but weakened too much to resist Kyubimon, who was going to launch her strongest attack.

Kyubimon released the nine orbiting fireballs towards the Niximons before letting out a loud draconic roar. She glided towards all ten Niximons and for a brief moment there was a still standoff. But then the glowing figure of Renamon flew off from the burning dragon and landed after a somersault in the air. The dragon specter then burned all ten Niximons at once and all combusted into data particles with a loud explosion.

"Good job, Renamon!" Kira cried ecstatically as Renamon darted towards her.

Renamon's eye sparkled with mirth as she looked at Kira. "I couldn't have done it without you," she smiled. Then to Kira's surprise, Renamon lifted a hand and gave Kira a thumbs-up (despite having only three fingers) and gave Kira a smile which looked like it was constrained from what should have been a grin.

Unimon neighed victoriously and hovered in the air. "Excellent job, you two."

"We could not have done it without you either," Renamon replied gratefully. "Your aid is well-timed. If you hadn't arrived earlier, there is no telling what would happen to Kira and me."

"Yeah," Kira added with a sincere smile. "Thanks."

Unimon looked pleased. "I did what I had to do. Well, I best be off now. My energy has been restored and I intend on using it to help other Digimon who are in trouble on this island." He then flew off from the sky.

Two figures approached the duo from behind. "Hey...umm...you two know what's been happenin' 'round here?"

They turned around and saw Minotarumon and Fugamon. They appeared to be in perfect health, but both looked confused.

"How'd we get here?" Fugamon asked, scratching his head. "Last time I remember I was near a lake."

"And who're you?" Minotarumon inquired, pointing at Renamon. He gave a pointed look towards the biped fox, but then his expression turned pleasant. "You were amazin' back then, during the fight with those water creatures. Such power...I wish I could do things like that."

Kira and Renamon looked at each other and realized that the two Digimon had no recollection of what had happened to them. Both were dangerous while under the Niximons' power but now, they were rather genial. The duo decided to spare them from knowing what they had done and merely introduced themselves before a thunderous roar shook the island.

"What's going on?" Kira wondered, looking towards the sky which had blackened once again.

Lightning flared from the direction of the beach, and the pleasant night weather was replaced by a chilly storm. The air grew moist; it was as if the winds carried some of the seawater with them.

Renamon suddenly hissed as her furs pricked up. Renamon knew what this meant; it was time when she was going to face a deadly enemy. The Niximons had been just a warm-up. The one causing the sudden change of weather was the main course.

"Dragomon..." she whispered hoarsely, remembering what Wizardmon had mentioned earlier.

Kira gave Renamon a bewildered look and gulped. "Do you think it's him? The one...who'd done that horrible experiments on those Scubamons? That...that... mad Digimon Hookmon told us about? Do you think we're gonna face him _now_?"

"I believe so," said Renamon simply, causing Kira to groan.

"'scuse me, but who's Dragomon?" Minotarumon asked, seeing the tensed look on Kira and Renamon's faces.

"Someone you wish you are never going to meet," Renamon said simply. She then held an arm around Kira's shoulder. "My partner and I shall be heading to the beach now. If you wish to help, just follow us." Holding Kira securely, Renamon zipped away in a blink of the eye. She appeared briefly on one of the branches before flickering once more and disappeared.

Minotarumon and Fugamon turned to each other and sweatdropped. "How'd she _think_ we're gonna follow her when she's disappearin' like that?" Minotarumon asked, confused.

Fugamon snorted gruffly. "Nah, forget it. Fighting's not my favorite pastime; I'd rather go back to my home now and wait 'till this battle with this Dragomon is over. You can come too, if you want. I'll have my spouse fix up a late night supper and we can talk about this. What do you say?"

"Great."

* * *

"Hey Kanto, wait up!"

Inside the Mekanorimon he was piloting, Kanto was surprised to hear Jon's voice over the built-in intercom inside the android. The blonde had not wanted to join in the fight with Zudomon and chose to stay back while Kanto rushed into the battlefield. A small monitor over the console revealed indeed, another Mekanorimon flying a hundred meter behind of him, with Dinohumon leaping beside it. In front of Mekanorimon and Dinohumon was Wizardmon, who seemed to be chasing the Mekanorimon Kanto was in.

"Jon! Glad that you can make it with me! What makes you change your mind? I thought you're doing what is _sensible_ in not wanting to join in the fight? So what makes you change your mind?"

A groan came before the reply. "Don't push it, Kanto. I don't like doing this, but I can't just stay behind and do nothing. Besides somebody has to watch a certain hothead who decides to rush in the battlefield without considering the effect."

Kanto laughed. "Ok, ok... I'm sorry. But it's nice to hear that I have backup."

"Sure. So what's the plan?"

"Oh. Well, uh... I...am still working on that part. Any input?" Jon could practically hear the other boy sweatdrop via the intercom. He smiled.

"Well, maybe we ought to follow our partners and help them."

A brief silence ensued before Kanto replied, "Alright. You and Dinohumon take on Zudomon from the left. Wizardmon and I will attack from the right."

Jon agreed, and using the microphone Kanto announced the plan out loud for Dinohumon and Wizardmon to hear. The Digimon both agreed and separated into two teams, as directed by Jon. They saw Andromon, Leomon and Ogremon on the sidelines, still very much hurt. Looks of disbelief became apparent on their faces as they saw the four Digimon rushed past them towards Zudomon.

"What are you doing?" Andromon cried out. "It is too dangerous for you to oppose him! He is too formidable."

Kanto's Mekanorimon slowed down and the pilot's voice replied, "We have to try. Otherwise that overgrown turtle will destroy you guys and us." His voice surprised the three Digimon, who didn't think of the possibility of Kanto and Jon being inside the Mekanorimons.

"Children?" Leomon gasped in disbelief. "No. Stay back! You'll be killed by that monster!"

"What makes ya think that ya can beat that damn turtle if WE were trashed by him like dirt?" Ogremon demanded. "Listen to lion-boy and stay back."

"We have to try." That was Jon's reply before all four of them came face to face with Zudomon.

The evil Ultimate was amused to see the four Champions. He readied his hammer and eyed his enemies carefully as they split into two teams. Wizardmon and Kanto's Mekanorimon started attacking them by releasing barrages of electric-based attacks, while Jon's Mekanorimon provided a higher platform for Dinohumon to launch his mystical Autumn Exorcism. Unfortunately, Zudomon was able to counter all attacks using his formidable hammer.

"Surely you're NOT hoping to beat me with these pitiful attempts?" he barked, and thumped his hammer on the earth. "Hammer Spark!"

The good guys immediately jumped away to avoid the powerful blast resulted from the quake. Zudomon wasn't going to let them escape that easily and threw his hammer towards his enemies randomly. The hammer rammed against one Mekanorimon and forced it on the ground. Shouts were heard as the Mekanorimon crashed onto the ground. The blue capsule on top of the fallen android opened and Jon rolled out.

Zudomon smirked evilly and approached Jon. He retrieved his hammer and a glint of malice flashed in his eyes. "Say goodbye, Blondie! Hammer..."

Jon closed his eyes in fear and buried his face on the ground. Suddenly, to his surprise the Mekanorimon beside him beeped and came to life. Standing up, one of its long arms snatched Jon and threw him away to safety.

"...Spark!"

But the android wasn't quick enough to evade the attack, and was crushed by the sheer force of Zudomon's hammer. His data particles spread into the air and Zudomon instantly claimed it.

"NOOOO!"

Too saddened by the loss of the android that had saved him, Jon didn't even notice when long set of arms caught him before he crash landed on the ground. Turning around, he saw that the arms belonged to Kanto's Mekanorimon. In the background, both Wizardmon and Dinohumon rushed towards Zudomon and began attacking him with their magical techniques and flaming blades.

"Zudomon killed _him_..." Jon whispered hoarsely. His body grew weak.

Inside, Kanto didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Jon." The Mekanorimon he was piloting beeped sadly as it placed Jon down, apparently feeling the loss of its fellow android as well.

Jon's body shook. "I _should've_ stayed behind..."

"It's not your fault." That was all Kanto could say.

"I chose to go, although I knew I should stay behind."

Not wanting to hear anymore of this, Kanto quickly climbed out from the android. He stood in front of Jon.

"Don't blame yourself. If _I_ didn't go out there...you wouldn't have to follow me. If you wanna blame somebody, then...I guess it's my fault." Kanto hung his face down as his own words took effect on him.

"No," said Jon slowly. "Kanto..."

The Mekanorimon then decided to make its opinion known. It beeped to attract the two boys' attentions. "Not...any of you...fault. Don't blame... yourself. My...friend...made choice. Model _A-120_... was brave. I would have done...the same thing, if it were...you who are in danger." The Mekanorimon raised an arm towards Kanto.

"Mekanorimon..." Kanto said, touched.

"It's been...nice, knowing the two of you." The Mekanorimon continued; its speech no longer had as much pauses as before. Despite the robotic quality in its voice, both boys could hear the rising determination of the champion android. "Take care..."

Jon's head snapped up. "What are you going to do?"

"I will help...your partners. Thank you, for giving me...the privilege of working...with the... DigiDestined. I am happy. Actually Model A-120 and I... can move on our own, but we wanted...to work with you. We have no regrets."

Both Jon and Kanto were shocked at the revelation. "Just because of our status, _you'd_ risk your life?" Jon whispered hoarsely.

If it was possible for the Mekanorimon to smile, then it would be doing just that. However, its feelings could only be reflected by its single eye. "Like I said... it's a privilege. Besides...good Digimon don't really die. We'd get reconfigured after...deletion. Bad Digimon...got recycled. If Zudomon...dies, then Model A-120's data will be...used in its reconfiguration too."

The Mekanorimon then turned away and revved its thrusters.

"Wait."

It turned back, and looked at Kanto. "Yes?"

"What's...what's your name?"

The Mekanorimon beeped appreciatively. "My registration serial number... is _A-121_."

It then flew off towards the battlefield without another word. Kanto and Jon both stood side by side, watching as Mekanorimon Model A-121 fired a beam from its hands. Zudomon thought of the android as an irritation and swiped it away before focusing on Dinohumon and Wizardmon, causing it to crash on a tree. Undaunted, Model A-121 started to head back towards Zudomon and fired a laser beam once more. Zudomon roared angrily and finished the heroic Mekanorimon off with one thrust of his Chrome-Digizoid hammer. Instantly, Model A-121 was deleted on the spot and Zudomon consumed its data greedily before resuming battle with the two destined Digimon.

"He's gone," Kanto said grimly. His eyes glistened as he turned to Jon. "Do you think that they'd get reconfigured?"

Jon's eyes widened in frantic. "Kanto... Zudomon has consumed A-120 and A-121's data. How can they be reconfigured if their data are inside Zudomon? Zudomon is a bad Digimon...he...he'd get recycled if he got deleted! And the Mekanorimons' data would be gone too."

The other boy's expression darkened. "Then we have to make sure that Zudomon is deleted, one way...or another," Kanto said intensely.

"But how?"

"I don't know, Jon. But I hope our Digimon are up to it."

The two boys then returned their gaze towards the battle, watching from a safe distance.

Dinohumon and Wizardmon proved to be an excellent team against Zudomon, despite their lack of strength compared to the Ultimate. Wizardmon generated many magical attacks which ranged from intensifying Dinohumon's attack or generating barrier to protect them from Zudomon's hammer. Dinohumon switched back and forth between his Lizard Dance and Autumn Exorcism to attack Zudomon. However it was apparent that Dinohumon was exerting himself to the limit judging from his gradual speed decrease. Seeing Dinohumon's condition, Wizardmon utilized his limited healing powers and replenished Dinohumon's strength.

Once again, Dinohumon energized his blades with fire. The flames burned with increased intensity around him, generating a fiery aura around Dinohumon. Wizardmon too raised his staff high and summoned his electricity attack. They attacked Zudomon simultaneously, with Dinohumon attacking the lower extremities while Wizardmon focusing on the torso and upper extremities. Zudomon blocked Wizardmon's Thunder Blast technique but failed to counter Dinohumon's vicious slashing. His legs were severed, and blood reeked from the cuts. Angered, the mammalian turtle kicked Dinohumon brutally and mauled Wizardmon with a powerful punch. The two Digimon were hurled onto the ground, and were hurt. From afar, the boys could see blood trickling out from their partners.

"Even with your team-up you are still no match for me!" Zudomon declared. "I shall finish you now."

The boys were scared. Were they going to lose their Digimon partners too? They grew frantic and immediately rushed towards their partners, not really thinking of the consequences as determination took place over their doubts.

"Pitiful," said Zudomon sinisterly. "If you're so tired of waiting for your doom then I'll be glad to deliver it to you NOW!"

The ultimate Digimon turned away from the Digimon and set towards Jon and Kanto, who both stopped dead upon seeing the giant turtle approaching them. The earth rumbled as Zudomon closed in, and the two boys lost their balance. Both fell onto the ground, helplessly looking up as Zudomon's shadow loomed in against the colorless night.

"Noooo..." Wizardmon said weakly, and struggled to get up. Wiping the blood that was trailing out from his lips with his high-collared cape, Wizardmon crawled to retrieve his staff. Unfortunately his remaining power failed him and he fell back onto the ground face-first. "Kanto..."

"Jon... run..." Dinohumon said helplessly. Unlike Wizardmon, he couldn't even get up.

"Farewell, DigiDestined!" Zudomon declared. "Hammer..."

A bright flash of golden light from the sky interrupted Zudomon's intention to finish off the two DigiDestined. The light blinded him and he was forced to cover his eyes with his arms to block out the most of the light. Opening his eyes slightly and by peering through his claws, the ultimate Digimon was dismayed to see that a wave of golden light had appeared and restored color and warmth to everything it touched. He watched in horror as the light bathed Leomon, Ogremon and Andromon and healed all the wounds he had inflicted on them. The light reek the aura of goodness, and Zudomon suspected that if the aura touched him then it would be the end of him.

Jon and Kanto covered their eyes quickly when the golden light approached, but they could've sworn that they felt a sense of warmth when the lights engulfed them. All of a sudden, the Digivices in their pockets shook and released green and violet lights. Then the golden wave left them, and they stood. To their surprise, their Digimon partners were enveloped with green and violet aura as well.

Zudomon was surprised to see that he was unharmed when the light touched him, though he felt no differences either. After the light faded, he braved himself and lowered his arms. Then his eyes widened in surprise upon what was in store for him.

The two DigiDestined boys were standing side by side, holding their Digivices, which were mysteriously flaring with green and violet lights.

Behind him, Dinohumon and Wizardmon were both standing, in perfect health, and were glowing with green and violet lights. They looked mildly confused, but when they saw the Digivices of their partners glowing as well both relaxed.

"What's going on here?" Zudomon demanded. His tone wavered slightly. He didn't like the new path the battle was going.

"I know what's happening!" Jon declared. "I've seen this before, back at Database Island...back when Veedramon and Grizzmon first DNA digivolved!"

"Really?" Kanto asked, inspecting his glowing Digivice with interest. "Do you think that's going to happen now to our Digimon?"

Jon was now confident. "I'm sure of it."

Then the Digivices shook violently and released two streams of green and violet lights towards Dinohumon and Wizardmon. A bright flash of white light ensued as the Digimon shot towards the sky. Raw, new energy coursed through their veins and instantly both turned into two motes of green and purple.

"**_Dinohumon...!"_**

"**_Wizardmon...!"_**

"**_...DNA digivolve to..."_**

The two motes soared towards the night sky and coalesced together before a bright explosion of light resulted. When the light ceased, everyone saw that from the spot where the two Digimon joined together, a tall, winged humanoid figure with a long tail appeared. His whole body seemed to be made out of fire. The aura this new figure generated was bright enough to illuminate the dark night with its reddish orange hue. Jon and Kanto stared towards the new, combined form of their Digimon in awe, but their hearts beat quicker in anticipation as they wanted to know the name of their merged Digimon.

The fiery warrior then let out a mighty roar and the fires on his body streaked away, revealing an armored humanoid Digimon. The facemask he was wearing covered the upper portion and the sides of his face, and was colored red with three white horns protruding from each side and on the center of forehead. The horns on the sides were L-shaped, with two red stripes decorating the horizontal part of the horns, while the middle horn just jutted out straight up. Long, wild, spiky yellow hair grew out flowed down his back until just below the waist, the ends being shaped like the tip of a burning flame.

His body was very muscular, and he wore a thin, tight black suit which looked like a second skin on him. Above the suit, royal red and white armor which was lined with yellow adorned his chest. Shoulder guards with the same design as his chest armor clutched on his body, and black spikes jutted out from them. The jacket-shaped chest armor was then joined together with a golden segmented armor which was secured tight on his sternum. The same kind of armors materialized on his groin region and was secured just below his waist.

He then stretched his arms and legs, making himself appearing in an X-shaped position, and armors of simpler designs draped around his forearms and shins. Then two golden rhombus-shaped weapons slid onto his forearm, while gold knee guards clasped around his knee. Two white claws protruded in front of the armors covering each of his feet. On his thighs appeared two same, but thinner armors with intricate designs decorating in the middle.

To complete his whole assembles, the wings on his back spread out and sparks of fire came out from it. From afar, the wings looked like they were made from fire themselves. Upon closer inspection, that was not far from the truth, as each feather on the wings was continuously surrounded by a flame-like aura. The tail that slithered out from his back was armored as well all the way to the tip which reached the calves, and took on a deeper cherry-red hue. Shining yellow-red aura glowed around him. He then struck an imposing pose and declared his name for everyone.

"**_... ARDHAMON!"_**

Jon and Kanto both couldn't believe their eyes. Their Digimon had combined together to form an impressive looking warrior of fire. They lowered their hands and inserted their Digivices back into their pockets, and smiled proudly.

"Ardhamon? Awesome..." Kanto said breathlessly.

"He looks even cooler than Cyberdramon!" Jon declared excitedly.

Zudomon on the other hand was annoyed with the sudden turn of event. Ardhamon looked to be stronger than his previous opponents, and also more imposing. He didn't want to waste any more time, and immediately lunged himself towards Ardhamon with his hammer raised high. However Ardhamon flapped his wings and soared higher towards the sky where Zudomon could not harm him.

"You know, I'm getting really tired of you," Ardhamon said smoothly, with a combined voice of Dinohumon and Wizardmon.

"Come down here, you coward!" Zudomon shouted, annoyed of not being able to reach Ardhamon.

Ardhamon smirked. "Why? It's prettier up here. I think I'll just..."

Suddenly his eyes caught something which was located far from the File Island, on the open sea. With his excellent sight he saw a large looming figure approaching the island from afar. His Wizardmon side recognized the shadow instantly.

"On the other hand, I think I should end the game now."

Zudomon's face contorted into a look of disgust. "Do you really hope to stop me with just a fancy digivolution? Please... I am still the more powerful one among all of you. You are created from two Digimon, while I am the result of the combination of five Digimon. Besides I have some of Lord Dragomon's power in me. I have also absorbed quite a number of Digimon today and added their powers to my own."

"You're a confident one are you? Well, I'm just going to have you eat your words," said Ardhamon with the same smooth, confident tone.

Ardhamon raised his arms towards the heavens and generated an immensely massive sphere which was as bright as the sun. The sphere reached full size when it was twice as large as Ardhamon and flickered with fire.

"Zudomon...have a taste of my SOLAR WIND DESTROYER!"

Without wasting anymore time, Ardhamon threw the fireball down towards Zudomon. Powerful gusts of wind erupted as the fireball approached Zudomon. The Ultimate wanted to make a run for it, but Ardhamon's attack caught up to him even before he could lift up a leg. The fireball engulfed him and Zudomon screamed in pain as data began to extract from his body, beginning with his chest where the fireball had nailed him, followed by his extremities, face and shell before a loud explosions resulted. After that, what remained of Zudomon was his hammer, which also exploded into bits of data after the deletion of its master.

"We've won! We've won! We've won!" The boys screamed, and jumped happily as Ardhamon descended downward.

"Incredible," Andromon said, as he approached the DigiDestined. Leomon and Ogremon trailed behind the ultimate level android, eyes wide in disbelief.

After the fused warrior had landed, his partners quickly approached him. Instantly they realized that Ardhamon was very tall. While not as big as Zudomon, his height had surpassed Andromon, who was the only other Ultimate around. Roughly he looked like Dinohumon and Wizardmon standing on top of each another.

"Wow, Ardhamon. You really showed that Zudomon!" Kanto said excitedly. "You're amazing."

"Why, thank you," said Ardhamon with a smile. "I couldn't have done it without you two. So, thank _you_."

Jon smiled. "You're certainly wonderful. Care to introduce yourself even further to us? I mean, with all the details...type, attribute, and attacks?"

Ardhamon nodded. "Of course. Wait a minute while I try to recall all the information." He seemed to be lost in thought for a while, before grinning once more. "Well, I'm Ardhamon... a virus type, ultimate level warrior of fire. My attacks are the Solar Wind Destroyer and the Atomic Inferno."

"Cool!" Jon responded.

For a while, the other Digimon exchanged congratulatory notes with Ardhamon. They then had a silent moment to remember all the fallen Digimon, and hoped that with Zudomon destroyed they would be reborn once more. After that, Ardhamon turned to face his partners and there was a grim look on his shining red eyes. He called for the boys' and the other Digimon's attentions to tell them something important.

"Listen. Back when I was evading Zudomon, I saw Dragomon approaching this island. He might want to launch an attack to this island. I think we should go to the beach and stop him before he could step foot here."

Jon and Kanto exchanged a look. "With you around Ardhamon, perhaps Dragomon would think twice before stepping foot here. What more with Cyberdramon and Renamon on our side as well," Jon said earnestly.

"What he said," Kanto said with nod.

"You flatter me," Ardhamon said modestly. "Well, who's up for flying trip to the beach with me?"

* * *

Before the golden wave came, the situation was bleak for the good guys over Toy Town Village. Scorpiomon was indeed a strong opponent, having trashed Cyberdramon, Greymon and Garurumon around as if they were merely a bunch of flies. The dark shroud which drained the color and warmth of the night seemed to be empowering the scorpion Digimon even more. Everyone watched helplessly as Scorpiomon continued to trash around the town. The three good Digimon's entire attempt to stop him was met with utter failure.

Then the golden wave came, and the tides switched in favor of the good guys. It basked the fallen Digimon with its amazing power and reenergized them as well as healing all wounds. Cyberdramon was the first to emerge, and quickly took on the surprised Scorpiomon.

In the meantime, Greymon and Garurumon made a pleasant discovery.

"I feel stronger," Greymon said.

"Me too... I feel like I'm now able to go even further than this form," Garurumon said.

Greymon nodded. "You're thinking what I'm thinking?"

Garurumon shrugged in a manner a wolf would've shrugged. "No harm trying."

Red and blue aura glimmered around the two champion Digimon and their figures glowed. Greymon grew larger in size while Garurumon began to stand on his hind legs. Following his growth, metallic parts were fixed on Greymon's body and his formerly brown helmet was coated with durable metal. A two-missile compartment was engrafted on his chest as well. Garurumon howled as a pair of blue tattered jeans formed around his legs, and multiple brown belts clasped themselves around his arms and legs. Bronze four-fingered knuckle-spikes were inserted on both of his hands, as well as leathery orange elbow and knee pads being fixed on their respective sites.

They were now in their ultimate levels – MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon.

"Would you look at that," Darien said in awe. "One moment they're down, and the next moment poof! They're stronger, and have gone to higher levels!"

Max tried hard not to laugh at his friend's funny way of expressing his amazement. He merely nodded and looked at the direction where Scorpiomon was, now facing three ultimate Digimon of vaccine types.

"It's over, Scorpiomon!" MetalGreymon said.

Scorpiomon scoffed. "That's what you think! Tail Blade!"

The attack merely bounced off MetalGreymon's metallic armor. The large Cyborg-dinosaur hybrid laughed and decided to taunt the scorpion.

"Is that the best you can do? Well, it's not very much to it now is it?"

"MetalGreymon, let's finish him now." WereGarurumon shouted from below. His height was now only slightly lower than MetalGreymon's knee, instead of being nearly equal in size while both of them were Champions.

"Feel up for our combo attack?" MetalGreymon inquired.

WereGarurumon smirked. "It's been a while since we used that. Let's do it."

MetalGreymon then reared back before shouting, "Giga Blasters!" He released two barrages of nuclear warheads towards Scorpiomon, and just after the missiles were released from their compartment on MetalGreymon's chest, Weregarurumon leapt onto one of them and directed his energy towards his sharp nails. Red aura sparked from there and Weregarurumon braced himself for an assault towards the large scorpion.

"Crimson Nails!" WereGarurumon shouted and leapt away from the missile he was riding just before they hit on Scorpiomon's tough exoskeleton. The two warheads caused Scorpiomon to collapse and WereGarurumon buried his claws on Scorpiomon's hide. To his surprise the exoskeleton was tough enough to endure his claws and the werewolf was forced to jump away from Scorpiomon.

Scorpiomon's exoskeleton was tough enough to protect him from MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon, but it was damaged enough after enduring Metalgreymon's missiles, exposing the flesh inside. Taking the chance, Cyberdramon quickly launched an attack of his own.

"Desolation Claw!"

Directing his attack towards the exposed flesh, Cyberdramon successfully injured Scorpiomon. He increased the intensity of his Desolation Claw and fired again, hurting Scorpiomon even further. The scorpion let out a disgusted cry and attempted to swipe Cyberdramon away with its tail. However, the fused warrior was not harmed as he managed to fly away.

"Hey, kiddo! Don't hog all the fun for yourself. Leave something for us too!" MetalGreymon said to Cyberdramon.

"We haven't had this kind of fun ever since our Omnimon powers are gone," WereGarurumon added.

Cyberdramon shrugged. "Be my guest. I'll stay on the sidelines for this one and let you two handle Scorpiomon. He's injured enough for you to finish off with one clean blow." He flew towards Darien and Max and stayed there with them.

MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon then attacked Scorpiomon altogether and used another maneuver. This time around, MetalGreymon extended his sharp metallic claw and pierced Scorpiomon's tail away, making the evil scorpion unable to attack. Scorpiomon howled in pain, and trashed about as yellow gooey liquid poured out from the place where the tail was cut.

WereGarurumon seized the opportunity to make up for his failure to injure Scorpiomon earlier. He then directed his sharp nails once more towards the now-exposed flesh of Scorpiomon, and focused all his might there. He managed to pierce into the flesh even deeper and more yellow liquid poured out, some of them even splattered on WereGarurumon, causing the werewolf to let a cry of disgust.

"This is just great! Now I'm going to need a bath to clean this icky thing off me!" His eyes flashed on MetalGreymon. "Alright big guy, he's all yours!"

"With pleasure."

MetalGreymon then aimed for the injured sites on Scorpiomon's body, while the scorpion seemed to still not willing to give up. As more and more liquid poured out Scorpiomon grew weaker and soon he stopped putting up a fight anymore. MetalGreymon shook his head in pity and decided to finish him off with one blow.

"I'll just make this fast. Giga Blasters!"

The missiles blasted onto Scorpiomon and an explosion ensued. Scorpiomon was deleted, but he still seemed to have the last laugh...sort of.

"EEEEWWWWW!"

When he exploded, the yellow liquid within his body splattered all over the tarnished town, MetalGreymon, WereGarurumon, Cyberdramon, Max, Darien and the four rookie quartet. All of them were plagued with the foul smell of the liquid and immediately had to resist the urge to wretch right there and then. The rookies all scampered away to clean up, leaving three confused Ultimates and two DigiDestined.

"I think a short trip to the river is due," Max suggested, wrinkling his nose irritably.

"I'm with you," Darien said. "Come along, Cyberdramon."

The two teens and Cyberdramon followed the trails left by the quartet, who they assumed would be going to the nearest river.

"We'll just go to the nearest beach and take a quick dip," MetalGreymon said.

* * *

Like Mermaidmon had said, things soon turned ugly between her and MegaSeadramon against WaruSeadramon. The viral serpent had been throwing insults towards the both of them continuously while they were battling each other. MegaSeadramon was able to keep his cool, but Mermaidmon appeared to be easily annoyed and WaruSeadramon used that to his advantage. Without a clear mind, it was hard for Mermaidmon to concentrate on the battle and she was the one who WaruSeadramon targeted the most for his attacks.

MegaSeadramon sighed; it was difficult to belief that Mermaidmon was the one who had saved him and his crew from falling prey to the Niximons, by looking on how she reacted this day.

"GAAHH! Stupid WaruSeadramon! Take this... Charm's Plunder!" Mermaidmon shouted and showered WaruSeadramon with waves of orange light.

WaruSeadramon simply dove into the water and evaded the attack successfully. After seeing that those orange waves were gone he rose up to the surface and taunted Mermaidmon.

"Missed me, you old sea-hag. Your target _sure_ needs practicing, or is it your deteriorating eyesight is to blame?"

"Stay still, you overgrown eel! Charm's Plunder!"

"Nope, can't do that. Oops, missed me again! Try harder."

"AARRGH!" Mermaidmon let out a cry of frustration. She aimed an anchor towards WaruSeadramon. "Northern Cross Bomber!"

WaruSeadramon scoffed and decided to counter the attack with his own, but before he could do that Mermaidmon came forward and once more showered him with her Charm's Plunder. WaruSeadramon was flustered; the previous attack had been merely a decoy to distract him. His fluster soon turned to fury, of being outsmarted by Mermaidmon. He spun and whipped Mermaidmon away with his tail, sending the pirate mermaid flying. She would have crashed onto the protruded rocks near the beach if it weren't for MegaSeadramon's quick thinking to use his body as a pad for Mermaidmon to fall on. With the force of WaruSeadramon's attack diminished by MegaSeadramon's cushioning Mermaidmon's fall, the mermaid was safe.

MegaSeadramon caught his dark cousin's eyes and said loudly, "That's not a way to treat a lady."

"Trust me; I've seen a _Calmaramon_ who acts more like a lady than that undesirable companion of yours," WaruSeadramon retorted.

A vein nearly exploded from Mermaidmon's forehead. "Calmaramon? You're comparing _me_ with that squid sea-witch? How dare you!"

"Mermaidmon, relax. He's messing with your mind to lower your guard. Be wary of him," MegaSeadramon warned.

"I know that, but he really gets on my NERVE!" Mermaidmon growled back.

"You're no help if you let him do this to you. Why don't you stay back for a while and let me take care of WaruSeadramon. After you've cooled off some of that anger maybe you can join me."

"I have a better idea; I'm going to use my anger as a fuel to utterly DESTROY him!"

MegaSeadramon thought about it. "Why, that's not a bad idea...providing that you're up to it."

"I think that can be arranged," Mermaidmon said with a simper. She took a deep breath and aimed her anchor towards WaruSeadramon once more. Summoning all her anger and hatred towards the other Digimon, the mermaid then used it as a form of energy to energize her anchor. The water then rippled and began to rise up before starting to swirl around her anchor.

MegaSeadramon watched in surprise as Mermaidmon used the water to form some kind of projectiles, which she shot continuously one after another towards WaruSeadramon. The dark serpent was surprised to find himself suddenly being bombarded with multiple water projectiles and wanted to retaliate, but he was soon overwhelmed by the water missiles.

"Impressive technique, Mermaidmon!" MegaSeadramon praised. "What's it called?"

Mermaidmon shrugged and answered as she continued shooting off the water projectiles towards WaruSeadramon. "This is my first time using this attack. I don't know how I created it, but I sure like it. I think I'm gonna call it my Northern Cross Missiles...or maybe Northern Cross Bombard, or Northern Cross Shooter. Oh who cares, as long as it works!"

WaruSeadramon tried to dive underwater but Mermaidmon would just dove underwater as well and continued firing the barrages of water missiles. It was like she had developed an intense obsession to rid WaruSeadramon off once and for all.

MegaSeadramon decided to join in the battle before he was forgotten. "Thunder Javelin!"

The combination of their attacks soon pressed WaruSeadramon into coming up with a counter attack. "So you like to play rough huh? Well I'll show you how rough I can be!"

"Bring it on, loser!" Mermaidmon said. Now was her time to taunt.

And it looked like WaruSeadramon too was not immune with it. He fumed but still was able to reply coolly. "When you said loser, I think you really meant victor."

"No, she have said it loud and clear that YOU are the loser," MegaSeadramon said smoothly in Mermaidmon's defense. "Or is it that the helmet you're wearing is compressing the thing between your ears, assuming if you do have a functional one, of course. Or perhaps it would be too much to hope if it were to say that there's only air where it should've been a brain there?"

WaruSeadramon bore his fangs angrily. "You'll wish that you've never said that when I'm through..."

However WaruSeadramon didn't have the time to finish his sentence as a bright light illuminated the atmosphere and blinded his vision. He saw how the ice coating the Bane Buccaneer melted and evaporated as a wave of golden light shot out from it. Radiating towards all direction, a portion of the wave was heading towards the three of them. WaruSeadramon immediately suspected that it was the Golden Digicore his master had sent for him to retrieve, and realized that somehow the power of the core had been unleashed.

Immediately he readied himself to bask in the power of the golden wave. Closing his eyes completely he welcomed the wave, but as the wave past by him he was disappointed that he couldn't feel any effect of the wave in his body. The wave didn't provide him with the power he wanted, and with a groan of frustration he opened his eyes.

What he saw as soon as he did that was two glowing figures...of MegaSeadramon and Mermaidmon. Both were radiating with golden aura around them, and colors had returned to them and the atmosphere around them. WaruSeadramon shook with tremor; his master's shroud of darkness had been nullified. Then everything happened like a flash of lightning. He was prepared to release his power full-force towards his two opponents but immediately a strong jet of water and a freezing ray of ice impaled him on the chest, right through where his heart was located. He tried to let out a scream but then a wave of orange light coupled with a streak of lightning shot into, and through his snout before soaring towards the sky.

The feeling of excruciating pain was the last feeling he'd experienced before he felt his body collapsing on the surface of the sea. Everything then became dark as his body combusted into data particles.

* * *

Dragomon surrounded himself with a barrier made out of dark energy as the golden wave approached him. However, before it reached him the wave faded gradually. The master of the undersea thought that it was his dark power that caused the wave to die out, but then realized that the wave was only concentrated around the region of File Island. Dragomon was somewhere outside the region covered by the golden wave.

But then, he sensed something. Or rather, no longer sensing something, as he could no longer feel the connection he had with his three ultimate level minions. Feeling that the golden wave had something to do with it Dragomon immediately consulted his viewing orb. Firstly, the orb revealed how Dinohumon and Wizardmon merged to become Ardhamon and eliminated Zudomon.

"Impressive. Another DNA digivolution..."

Then the scene vanished, and was replaced by how Scorpiomon was defeated by the combined forces of a colossal semi-organic dinosaur and a blue werewolf. Dragomon frowned. He couldn't remember the DigiDestined having those two as partners. Dragomon assumed that those two were allies that the DigiDestined have made while they were on the island. But then, something came up to him.

"Omnimon had joined forces with the DigiDestined to defeat those brats, and had given his power to two of the partners for them to DNA digivolve into that Cyberdramon, who was responsible for the slaughtering of the weakest Legion of Darkness. Omnimon then had regressed back into his two rookie forms. Could those two had digivolved once more into them? The resemblances are really uncanny."

The orb shifted the scene into the battle between MegaSeadramon and Mermaidmon. Dragomon watched as the golden wave empowered MegaSeadramon and Mermaidmon, and how those two seized the chance to attack a then slightly-stupor WaruSeadramon. Finally the scene ended with how Kyubimon and a flying unicorn teamed up to beat all the Niximons.

"The sole female child and her beautiful partner Digimon – they are truly a potent combination, whether they realize it or not."

Dragomon was amazed, yet disappointed as well. He had clearly underestimated the five prophesized ones greatly, resulting in his loss of a team of valuable allies and three strong cohorts. However he had come too far to back off now.

"I am an Ultimate, with a power close to a Mega Digimon. I have lived this world longer than those inexperienced Digimon. Certainly, I cannot be beaten by the likes of them. Besides, my final plan is still at hand."

Looking behind, Dragomon's eyes glinted with malice as he observed the spinning Dark Whirlpool.

Using his powers, Dragomon had transported the Dark Whirlpool to where it now was. He planned on focusing the power of the Dark Whirlpool to transport the DigiDestined into a world of no return.

Dragomon had first discovered this world when he first found the Dark Whirlpool. Back then, it had appeared to be merely an ordinary whirlpool – a creation of nature and functioned like it was supposed to be. Or was it?

He then decided to observe it from the safety of his chamber. As time passed, more and more Digimon fall prey to the wrath of the whirlpool, regardless of them being marine ones or Digimon of other types. They never returned and never got reconfigured. Dragomon then deduced that somehow, the whirlpool must have transported those Digimon into another world or dimension.

The undersea master then knew that to be sure, he himself must venture within the depth of this whirlpool. His strong powers had protected him from the sheer force of the whirlpool, and Dragomon used this chance to explore the very depth of the whirlpool. Beneath the whirlpool, where it was supposed to be an ordinary sea floor, was a hidden portal disguised as an ordinary sea floor. Dragomon, being a Digimon composed out of darkness, sensed a profound dark energy coming from the hidden portal and drew some of the energy. He was a strong Ultimate then; with the addition of the dark power Dragomon could rival even a Mega.

But with the dark power came a price. Dragomon didn't know how, but somehow he had maintained a link to the world connected to the whirlpool. He was able to resist the whirlpool, but now with the dark power the whirlpool wouldn't harm him. In fact, Dragomon later found out that when the whirlpool absorbed other Digimon and sent them into the world it linked to, _he_ would grow stronger.

Thus Dragomon decided to call it _his_ Dark Whirlpool. He then attained the ability to open and close the whirlpool at _any_ location he desired. For a while Dragomon shifted the Dark Whirlpool's location to various places and that resulted in the absorption of many Digimon into the other world. It caused uproar for a while, and Dragomon's name was made known.

Suddenly his viewing orb blinked, signaling that it was going to show Dragomon something. Dragomon consulted it instantly and saw that the DigiDestined were all approaching the beach. Apparently they have learned of his presence here. Ardhamon was seen flying, leaving a trail of glowing red aura against the night sky. He was followed by three Digimon on foot. On a different location, Dragomon saw Kira and Renamon, appearing and disappearing as they made way towards the beach. Cyberdramon was seen carrying his two teenage partners from the east, and he was followed close by a firebird with three Rookies on her. In the meantime, the two Ultimates that had beaten Scorpiomon were already at the beach, cleaning up the mess they had gotten themselves into when they destroyed the scorpion.

"Enough reminiscing," he said silently. "It is now time for the final face-off."

* * *

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**Author's Note: **

Did I mention that the finale is going to be a two-part? No? Oops. Sorry.

Actually, I _did_ want to make this chapter a finale. Twenty-five is a good number to end an arc. However as I typed this, I realized that it is already _too long_ for it to be only in one chapter. I haven't even begun typing the part where Scorpiomon and WaruSeadramon were beaten, and this chapter has already exceeded 5000 word count and it was not even halfway yet. After those two battles were added the word count reached 9500.

I've thought of editing out some parts of the battle with the Niximons and Zudomon, but then decided against it when I came across a subplot I've forgone in the earlier part of the Dragomon arc. It will require some bit of editing to incorporate it in the _real_ finale but I think it can be done. With that decided I added in the earlier bit of the subplot pertaining about the history Dragomon had with the Dark Whirlpool.

Are you surprised of the DNA digivolution between Dinohumon and Wizardmon into Ardhamon? Well, based on what I've said about Ranamon Mermaidmon, Ardhamon is classified under ultimate-level Digimon. I know the American dub's spelling for Ardhamon is Aldamon, but I really prefer the real spelling as it stays true to the word origin. However the attack names will be the dub ones. Neither Dinohumon nor Wizardmon could evolve into Ardhamon, but I really want to make the second pair unique so there you go.

Thanks for the reviews, everyone. I do hope that you will stay tune for the _real_ finale...and the upcoming third arc, which will be **_Mephistomon's Arc_**.

**_Jack the ripper_** - Not really childish, Darien is more of a friendly, warm and impulsive type while Max being the quieter and observant one.

**_Roby Murphy, Hahn, Bluesv20, dark672_** – Why, thank you. However if you're looking forward for the real finale then you'll have to wait for the next chapter.

**_Flaring Star Saber_** – Ryo Akiyama is NOT one of the five original DigiDestined, that I'm sure. From what that is given in Digimon 02, he is Ken's early childhood friend. In Digimon Tamers, he is the Legendary Tamer. According to the _Digimon Encyclopedia_ website, under the entry _'DigiDestined'_, Gennai has mentioned that the first five DigiDestined were brought to the Digital World before the 'Adventures' team were born. While I may not use that explanation as a base, and I'll come up with an explanation for THAT later, what's certain is that since the 02 Ryo / Tamers Ryo are the same character as confirmed by the creator of Digimon Tamers, and he appears to be only slightly older than Ken, he couldn't be one of the original five. Just so you know, I DO care about the facts too.

**_Dark Qiviut_** – Why of course I remember you. You've been a frequent reviewer ever since Vengeance's 'Clowning Around' arc. I'm wondering whether you've finished with the other chapters as you seem to end your review with chapter 16.

**_Yami Vizzini_** – You're correct on that...sort of. Actually I've read about this somewhere, that when a Digimon first digivolved into a particular form the rush of energy it experiences is greater than after its subsequent digivolution into that same form.

**_kizokuro_** – Welcome to Legends of the DigiDestined, kizokuro! I hope you've managed to catch up until this chapter.

**_Brian_** – Welcome to Legends of the DigiDestined, Brian! I'm thinking of having this fic happening in the mid-90s.


	26. The Darkness before the Dawn, part II

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

_**Chapter 26 – The Darkness before the Dawn, Part II**_

The DigiDestined, their partners and those allying themselves with the chosen all had regrouped near the beach where the commotion between MegaSeadramon, Mermaidmon and WaruSeadramon had taken place earlier. MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon had arrived first, more than eager to clean themselves from the remains of Scorpiomon. They exchanged accounts with the marine Digimon, telling about their battles with their respective foes.

With MetalGreymon's assistance, MegaSeadramon had managed to push the Bane Buccaneer towards the beach. The Ultimate then ordered his Koemon crew and the Burgermon family to un-board the vessel and took cover at the island. All of them wanted to stay and help, but MegaSeadramon feared for their safety and pointed out that there was no way for them to help as the battle with Dragomon would take place over the sea. Agreeing with their captain, the crews wished him luck before departing.

Kira and Renamon arrived next, and noticed that they were early as the other DigiDestined had yet to arrive. The female duo took the opportunity to get some rest. However just as they were about to sit down on the sandy beach, a bright glow of red came from the darkened sky.

"What's that coming from the sky?" the pigtailed girl wondered. She squint her eyes to get a clearer view.

Renamon's ears pricked up instantly upon sensing a familiar presence. "I sense Wizardmon and Dinohumon arriving, but there is something strange... I feel as if both of them are now in one body."

Kira frowned as the red glow became brighter. Before long, she heard her name being called by two familiar voices. Looking up, she saw a warrior in red armor and with wings of fire descending. On the Digimon's shoulder were Jon and Kanto.

"Kira!" Jon called excitedly as the warrior Digimon helped him and Kanto getting down from his shoulders.

"Jon, Kanto!" Kira waved back, smiling. She then pointed towards the warrior Digimon. "Who's your friend? Where are Wizardmon and Kotemon?"

Kanto smiled a lopsided smile and crossed his arms over his chest. "For your information," he said, and beckoned with his right hand. "This is Ardhamon... Wizardmon and Dinohumon's DNA-digivolved form."

"Hey," Ardhamon said, in his dual voices. Kira's eyes widened, while her kitsune partner raised an eyebrow in amused surprise.

"Isn't he the greatest?" Jon asked eagerly.

"You've said it," Kira replied with a thumbs-up. "He looks great."

"Why thank you," Ardhamon said, appreciating the compliment.

"This is interesting," Renamon remarked. Walking towards the DNA warrior, she studied Ardhamon intently before inquiring, "But how is this possible? I can understand how Cyberdramon is formed, as Veedramon and Grizzmon have gotten the power from Agumon and Gabumon – who together used to be Omnimon. But you didn't get Omnimon's powers as well if I am not mistaken, so how did you manage to DNA digivolve?"

Ardhamon scratched his head for a while. "Wow... that's a tough question, Renamon. Frankly, I really am not sure myself. All I know is that as soon as we were hit by the golden wave, Kanto and Jon's Digivices powered both of us up together to become what we are now."

"Actually, there's nothing to it," a gruff voice interrupted from the sides. Everyone then saw a humanoid wolf – a rugged werewolf in blue jeans. In some ways the DigiDestined felt that he was familiar, but at the same time were convinced that they had never met him.

"Gabumon, I presume?" Renamon asked, noticing the familiarity the werewolf had with Garurumon.

"Now that you've mentioned it, I can see some semblance," Jon noted.

"I'm WereGarurumon now. I digivolved when the same wave mentioned by Ardhamon hit me as well," said WereGarurumon. "And I couldn't help but to listen to your conversation. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, however."

The DigiDestined nodded silently, somewhat intrigued by the rough appearance of WereGarurumon, compared to the gentle Gabumon they remembered. However despite his tough exterior WereGarurumon still retained his polite demeanour. WereGarurumon then took in their silence as his cue to continue.

"Like I've said, there's really nothing to it in DNA digivolution. Any two or more Digimon can DNA digivolve, but it is rather complicated compared to natural digivolution. Without any outer aid, it's very difficult, almost impossible... but that's my opinion. It requires two Digimon, or more, to strongly feel exactly the same desire to achieve something and they must have a near-equal, if not the same, amount of power. Even so, in normal cases that are not strong enough to cause a DNA digivolution, but it's different when an outer power source is involved."

"Interesting," Jon said, trying to absorb what WereGarurumon was saying. "Please continue, WereGarurumon."

"I'm glad that you find this interesting. I'm having a rather hard time trying to explain this to MetalGreymon, who'd be bored to sleep easily with these kinds of facts," WereGarurumon said, garnering a row of laughter from the DigiDestined. "Anyway, like I said before... the case is totally different when an outer power source is involved. About ten years ago, both MetalGreymon and I were in our Mega forms under the tutelage and trainings of the five great Harmonious Ones. We were then given the powers from their Digicores to DNA digivolve into Omnimon to become their agent in preventing any intrusion of malevolent Digimon from the space outside of this world...

"But back to the facts... we became Omnimon with the powers coming from the Digicores of the Harmonious Ones. When we were weaken from the fight with Apocalymon ten years ago, it became necessary for us to devolve back to our lower levels to make healing easier. We began giving some of the Sovereigns' powers to other Digimon to promote their own Digivolution, until finally the lasts of our powers were used to make Veedramon and Grizzmon DNA digivolve.

"And so, in my opinion, the DNA digivolution between Wizardmon and Dinohumon is made possible by the golden wave, and perhaps the strong desire both of them had to protect their partners from danger, I presume."

WereGarurumon then ended his explanation with a deep breath. The DigiDestined were silent, trying to absorb the facts. Ardhamon and Renamon both seemed to grasp what the werewolf had told them quicker.

"I guess that's a good explanation as any," Ardhamon said, satisfied.

"It is plausible," Renamon agreed.

They then were joined by Max, Darien and Cyberdramon, and Jon gave a quick summary of what WereGarurumon had imparted to him after a quick introduction between Ardhamon and the three. Mermaidmon, seemingly having sensed the arrival of a certain teen, quickly swam to the shore and morphed her sleek black tail into legs. She then approached the DigiDestined, while smiling all the way.

"Uh-oh," Darien said, sweating slightly.

Mermaidmon immediately stood by the tanned DigiDestined's side and began launching a full-scale story of how she and MegaSeadramon destroyed WaruSeadramon, and how she'd come up with a new attack. Darien only responded with a nod, while looking at Max for any help. To his disdain the redhead teen had purposely moved away from him, now standing closer to the younger DigiDestined as he listened to their stories. Cyberdramon merely observed him silently, occasionally shaking his head.

Not too long after, four more Digimon joined them. To everyone's surprise they were Kabuterimon, Birdramon, Togemon and Ikkakumon. The former two arrived from the sky, while Togemon came out from the forest and Ikkakumon from the beach.

"All of you have digivolved!" Max exclaimed. "But... you were rookies the last time I saw you in about...twenty minutes ago."

"Yeah well, we don't plan to stay as rookies forever, y'know," Ikkakumon replied with a smirk, but it was partly hidden by his hairs.

"Although, we don't have any idea how this is possible. We used to be able to digivolve into champion level one at a time," Birdramon said confusedly.

WereGarurumon smiled. "I guess we have the golden wave to thank for this, again."

"The golden wave, you said?" Togemon repeated. "Yeah... I remembered the wave coming at us back at Toy Town. That was when I felt a certain power coming back to me. I haven't felt as such after the four of us gave up our powers to the DigiDestined back at Database Island."

"What she said," Kabuterimon agreed, nodding.

"This is really great then. All of us are now in our strongest state in order to fight Dragomon," Ardhamon said spiritedly. He then stared towards the darkened horizon where Dragomon's shadow loomed by. Everyone else followed suit, and all of them could easily made out the outline of Dragomon. Some shuddered by the sheer size of the undersea master, who was approaching the island slowly.

"Oh man...I don't have any idea he's THAT big!" Kanto exclaimed.

Kira nodded grimly and continued, "Or that disgusting! He looks gross."

"Brilliant mind, according to Hookmon...but I've never thought that it would come with being big and gross as well," Jon remarked.

"I guess this is it, guys," Darien said, finally finding excuse to walk away politely from Mermaidmon, who seemed distracted as well. He quickly stood by Cyberdramon's side and gave Max a glare, which the latter replied with an amused look.

"Prepare yourselves," WereGarurumon said and cast a look towards the sea. "Here comes MetalGreymon and MegaSeadramon."

As soon as the two arrived the others began to prepare for the final battle. MetalGreymon, Cyberdramon, Ardhamon, Birdramon and Kabuterimon hovered over the land, while MegaSeadramon, Mermaidmon and Ikkakumon opted for the marine route. Renamon digivolved once again to Kyubimon, and along with WereGarurumon and Togemon, her role was to protect the DigiDestined. The flying and swimming Digimon then left the island and began to form a resistance over and at the sea water.

* * *

Dragomon raised his trident towards the sky and began to chant something in an obscure language. Dark grey clouds obscured the moonlight and the sky, as strong winds blew from out of nowhere. Lightning streaked across the sky followed by a deafening thunderclap.

"Come out, my faithful minions!"

Out from the water, the blackened humanoid amphibians – the Scubamon – appeared one by one, until they were nearly a hundred of them all appearing in front of the undersea master. Dragomon wielded his trident and shot thunderbolts towards his servants, transforming them into the forms they had taken before – creatures resembling the Divermon species, only without the oxygen tanks. Each of them was given a simpler version of Dragomon's trident, with only two pointed ends instead of three. They were to be used as weapons against the enemies.

Dragomon didn't dare to take any chance. He wanted to kill the DigiDestined as well as deleting their partners, a matter which Phelesmon had failed to do so even after being brought back from the dead. While he would fight off the stronger Digimon, he trusted that at least some of his mutated servants would prove to be competent enough to handle the task. With only one Ultimate and two Champions to defend them, the DigiDestined would be easily overpowered. There were almost a hundred of Scubamon under his command. Dragomon would consent a few of his servants to provide assistance to him, as to the undersea master, there was strength in number. Letting some of the Scubamon to help him would not jeopardize the entire plan.

Forty Scubamon were permitted to help him, the others were to kill the DigiDestined and anybody who stood in their way.

"Spread out now," he commanded. "Those Digimon partnered to the children and those allying themselves to them are approaching. Keep yourselves as scarce as possible. I do not want any failures, and those who are successful in eradicating the pests who call themselves DigiDestined are going to be rewarded with great power and restoration. Those who perish shall be remembered as faithful servants and would be held in high esteem. Now go!"

The Scubamon assigned to attack the island immediately dipped down into the sea upon their master's command. Dragomon and the forty remaining Scubamon then turned their attention towards the incoming soldiers of the good, and readied themselves. The Scubamon gathered in front of their master, arms shot up and weapons ready to attack.

Dragomon observed the incoming Digimon with a mildly amused expression. Quickly he assessed the numbers of airborne and marine Digimon and stimulated a plan within his ingenious mind. He saw that his biggest threats came in the form of the ultimate Digimon MetalGreymon, Cyberdramon, Ardhamon, MegaSeadramon and Mermaidmon. The other three, who were only Champions, were as much a threat as Rookies, but as they were also the enemies Dragomon would have no mercy.

* * *

Now only a few meters away from Dragomon and his army, Cyberdramon and Ardhamon signaled for the Digimon trailing behind them to stop. MetalGreymon peered in front and saw that Dragomon and the Scubamon were all ready to face them.

"This is it," he said. "Remember, we attack _only_ if they started it first."

After Cyberdramon and Ardhamon both signaled their agreements, MetalGreymon flew forward and positioned himself in front of the two DNA-digivolved Digimon, and face-to-face with the enemies.

"Dragomon! We are now offering you the chance to turn back to wherever you came from!" the Cyborg-dinosaur hybrid shouted clearly. "You and your minions have done enough damage to the File Island and its inhabitants already. Your servants have destroyed villages and taken the lives of innocent Digimon." MetalGreymon paused as a memory of his brief encounter with the lovable Monzaemon came to mind.

"Turn back?" Dragomon asked incredulously. "Surely, MetalGreymon, you jest. I have not come all this way to turn back. I have known of you to be simple-minded, but I have never thought that you are downright _stupid_ to offer me a chance to turn back."

MetalGreymon didn't reply, nor did he seem to be annoyed. He just stared into Dragomon's frightful red eyes calmly. Dragomon's colossal size didn't even faze him as it did to the others.

"Calling names are the ways of how _In-trainings_ do, Dragomon. I've never thought you would stoop to their level."

"Oh-ho! Good one, MetalGreymon!" Ikkakumon called out from down. Birdramon and Kabuterimon could be heard stifling their snickering.

Unnerved, Dragomon continued, "Even though all of you have defeated my three minions, I still daresay I have too many. My mission to eradicate the DigiDestined shall continue, and will end by the first sign of daylight."

Cyberdramon and Ardhamon instantly growled upon Dragomon's threat. The lives of their partners were being threatened. As partners to the DigiDestined they would not let that happen.

"Why... I believe I have struck a nerve," Dragomon said mockingly. "What is the matter? Are you afraid that I would harm your precious partners? Then why don't you just go back to the island to ensure their safety?"

"Lay one finger on them and you die," Cyberdramon growled.

"And that's a promise," Ardhamon said.

The warrior of fire looked back towards File Island to make sure that the DigiDestined were safe. He could still see, even from afar, that WereGarurumon, Togemon and Kyubimon were standing guard. The DigiDestined were safe. Satisfied, the Ultimate turned back to face his monstrous opponent, failing to notice the large number of shadows underwater swimming towards the island, despite the light generated from his wings.

The shadows however didn't escape a pair of clear blue eyes. "Wait a minute. What's that moving underwater?"

Mermaidmon, being smaller in size than MegaSeadramon and Ikkakumon and closer to the water instantly felt that something was amiss by the faint ripples the waters generated. Her eyes trailed the ripples and suspicious, she dipped herself underwater and followed the direction of the ripples. Amidst the darkness it was hard to notice of what had generated the nearly unnoticeable waves but Mermaidmon trusted her instincts when she felt that something was wrong. She then realized that she was heading straight back towards File Island, and hoped that her absence won't be noticed by anyone.

Dragomon didn't notice that one of his opponents was missing. He beckoned a tentacle towards the opponents and hissed, "Slaughter them all."

All at once, the servants of Dragomon charged; their main targets being the marine ones as instructed by their master. MegaSeadramon and Ikkakumon suddenly found themselves surrounded by five Scubamon. They withdrew the weapons bestowed upon them by Dragomon and threw themselves at their bigger opponents. However, with a flick of his tail MegaSeadramon instantly swiped them away. Ikkakumon followed suit with a blast of his Harpoon Torpedo. MegaSeadramon followed with a focused Mega Ice Blast and froze three Scubamon while Ikkakumon attacked another Scubamon. However, before they could finish off the four Scubamon, more of them joined in the fray and outclassed the two marine Digimon.

"Mermaidmon, a little help here?" MegaSeadramon said desperately, before noticing that the mermaid was missing. "Where is she...ahh!" He screamed, as a feeling of stabbing pain rose from the tip of his tail. Two Scubamon had struck there with their sharp weapons. Before the crimson serpent could retaliate several more Scubamon attacked him in a unified manner. Ikkakumon was no better as three Scubamon climbed on his body and attacked him from behind.

A shower of meteorites suddenly blasted onto the Scubamon squarely on the face, followed by bolts of electricity which shocked them. Ikkakumon looked up and saw his two comrades had descended to help him. Birdramon spread her wings and fired another dose of her Meteor Wing towards incoming Scubamon, and Kabuterimon followed with his Electro Shocker – electrocuting several Scubamon at one go. Ikkakumon then took the chance to help MegaSeadramon by firing his torpedoes to knock down the Scubamon which had clutched on MegaSeadramon's tail.

"Thanks," said MegaSeadramon gratefully.

"Don't mention it," Ikkakumon replied back. "I've got help from friends of mine as well."

Ardhamon and Cyberdramon teamed up to fend off rains of Scubamon that aimlessly threw themselves up towards them. Cyberdramon punched several of them away tirelessly before he was fed up with the amphibians and used a much more effective method instead. Using his Cyber Nail technique he attacked several Scubamon at once. The Scubamon countered the electricity-based assault with their weapons, but a massive fireball dawned onto them and their data soon dispersed away. Ardhamon readied another of his Solar Wind Destroyer and cast a deadly look over the other Scubamon, as if daring them to attack. Cyberdramon didn't wait for the Scubamon to attack; rather he flew towards them and nailed them directly with his Desolation Claw, killing several of them without remorse. They were the enemies, and they endangered the safety of the DigiDestined and the occupants of File Island. There was no room for pity, and it was not like the Scubamon deserved their pity. Ardhamon and Cyberdramon then continued to plough through the large number of Scubamon, deleting them as quick as possible to assist MetalGreymon, who was currently fighting solo with Dragomon.

The exchanges between MetalGreymon and Dragomon were the most intense of all battle. Dragomon summoned great tidal waves to drown MetalGreymon, but the dinosaur hybrid was left unfazed when the waters hit him. MetalGreymon then fired his missiles straight towards Dragomon's body, only to see in dismay as the missiles bounced into the waters due to Dragomon's elasticity. The undersea master scoffed and continued to rain MetalGreymon with the waves summoned with aid of his trident. Not letting MetalGreymon to have any chance of retaliating Dragomon attempted to stab MetalGreymon with his trident. MetalGreymon made use of his durable metallic parts to defend himself from Dragomon's sharp weapon, and resorted to use his extendable metallic claws to inflict harm on Dragomon. The attack did the trick as it pierced through Dragomon's shoulder.

"Curse you, MetalGreymon!" Dragomon roared. Dark liquid trickled from his wounded shoulder, but Dragomon didn't bother to stop it from flowing out.

"What's the matter? Have enough?" MetalGreymon asked, smirking. "There's still aplenty of where it came from."

"You would not have the chance to use it against me anymore, I assure you," Dragomon said menacingly. He aimed his trident towards MetalGreymon and summoned, "Forbidden Trident!"

Instantly a jet of intense water shot out from the tips of the trident, followed by bolts of lightning generated from the same weapon. The result was far from pretty; MetalGreymon found himself drenched to the tips of his red hair, but that was the least of his problem. The bolts of lightning struck him, and since he was drenched the bolts electrocuted him brutally. MetalGreymon let out a cry of pain as he felt his mechanical parts malfunctioning. His body emitted a faint yellow aura, a sign of weakening on his part.

Dragomon saw this and wrapped his tentacles around MetalGreymon, attempting to crush him into oblivion. MetalGreymon was immobilized as his body, legs and arms were besieged. He struggled to force Dragomon to release him, but it only made Dragomon crush him even harder. The tentacles wrapped around his body originated from Dragomon's left arm, and the undersea master raised his right, trident-wielding arm and attempted to move in for the kill.

"You shall no longer be a thorn on my side, MetalGreymon." With that said Dragomon thrust his trident onto MetalGreymon's head.

MetalGreymon stared defiantly at the humanoid octopus Digimon. "Don't be so sure of yourself Dragomon. I still have one trick up my sleeve." MetalGreymon closed his eyes tight and let the power inside his body being drained away. In a blink of the eye MetalGreymon shrunk back into Agumon, and Dragomon's trident was stabbed onto the Ultimate's own left extremity by accident, forcing him to loosen the tentacles which were holding Agumon. The rookie Digimon was freed but he was also in danger of falling twenty meters down and into the sea.

Luckily for him, Birdramon sped down and captured him with her talons. Thinking quickly, she then flew high towards the sky to avoid Dragomon harming the both of them. Kabuterimon hovered over to divert Dragomon's attention, but the actions taken by the two Champions had done nothing but to infuriate Dragomon even further.

"Thousand Waves!" he roared, showering Kabuterimon and Birdramon with waves of seawater. The Champions were wet and their wings could no longer function. The two airborne Digimon plummeted down onto the sea and sunk into it. When they reemerged a minute later, they were no longer in their digivolved forms. Biyomon and Tentomon were supporting Agumon while struggling to maintain afloat.

Seeing his friends' predicament, Ikkakumon rushed over to assistance. The three Rookies climbed on him, and Ikkakumon had no choice but to rush them back to File Island and out of danger. Several Scubamon attempted to give chase but were stopped by MegaSeadramon, who froze all of them with his Mega Ice Blast. He then watched over the four of them before he felt a burning pain stinging his back. When he was distracted, a jet of strong water shot past his head and blasted onto Ikkakumon, forcing the hairy Digimon to sink into the waters. MegaSeadramon turned back and saw that several Scubamon had latched on his back, and shook his body violently to throw them off. He failed however, before an inspiration struck his mind.

"Thunder Javelin!"

His zigzagged horn shimmered with electricity and MegaSeadramon willed his shocking powers to electrocute the Scubamon up to the point of their deletion. Then he looked over and saw Gomamon reemerging with the other rookie Digimon. Biyomon, Tentomon and Agumon were unconscious, and Gomamon seemed to be at lost on how to save his friends. Then he clapped his flippers and a myriad of fishes appeared out of nowhere. The little seal Digimon then instructed his fish friends to keep the other Rookies afloat. The fishes regrouped together and formed a small raft, big and strong enough to carry on the three Rookies. Together they made their way back to the island.

Dragomon was unsatisfied that the Rookies were still safe. "Nobody escapes me tonight!"

He was about to launch another assault to finish off the four Rookies once and for all. His attempted attack however was intercepted by the two DNA digivolved Ultimates.

"What's the matter with you? Picking on a fight with those who are weaker than you?" Cyberdramon roared.

"If you're so tough, fight us then!" Ardhamon followed.

Dragomon snorted haughtily. "I am then obliged to comply," he said darkly. "Forbidden Trident!"

Quickly upon hearing the attack being summoned, Cyberdramon and Ardhamon moved out of the way. Ardhamon then attempted to counter it with his Atomic Inferno. Cupping his hands together he thrust his hands forward and let out blasts of fire towards Dragomon. However Dragomon generated a water field around him, and the fires were quenched instantly upon contact with the water field. Not giving up Ardhamon resorted once again to his Solar Wind Destroyer, but Dragomon cut in with yet another Thousand Wave. The gigantic fireball was extinguished, and Ardhamon was left drenched. The flames on his wings died out, leaving only normal orange-colored feathers.

Dragomon then moved forward and slapped Ardhamon into the waters with his tentacles. He moved in to face Cyberdramon next. The humanoid dragon immediately launched barrages of curve-shaped energy blades which pierced through Dragomon's water barrier. Angered, Dragomon aimed another Thousand Waves but with great agility Cyberdramon avoided it. Cyberdramon returned the attack with another barrage of Cyber Nail, but Dragomon managed to counter it with his trident. He attempted to release a stronger wave, but before the waters could ram onto Cyberdramon it was frozen solid by MegaSeadramon, who had iced up all the Scubamon already.

Exercising his patience, Dragomon observed his once-henchman. "Hookmon...you once served me. Return to me and I shall spare you," he offered.

"Forget it, Dragomon. I was _never_ your servant. The deal's off. I won't work for you anymore," MegaSeadramon shot back angrily. "Your minions killed some of my crew...I won't forgive you for this. I will avenge them."

Raising himself high, MegaSeadramon was nearly about Dragomon's height. The serpent then rammed Dragomon squarely on the latter's torso, attempting to use his horn to pierce through Dragomon's body and inflict great injury onto the undersea master. Shocked by the sudden attack Dragomon quickly lashed out his tentacles towards MegaSeadramon and pummeled him repeatedly while struggling to get MegaSeadramon's zigzagged horn out of his body. As the horn was not straight it would mean a greater damage and pain for Dragomon if he attempted to force it out.

But it would not be any better to just leave MegaSeadramon's horn stuck inside his body. Thus Dragomon grabbed MegaSeadramon and attempted to pull the horn out slowly, but the serpent had something else in mind. He generated a powerful Thunder Javelin which blasted Dragomon from the insides. The sheer force from the attack threw himself away from Dragomon, and if it weren't for his strength and experience Dragomon would have been deleted by that moment. Dragomon however did feel a sensation of excruciating pain creeping all over the insides of his body.

"Insolence pirate! You shall pay for this!" Dragomon roared angrily. He grabbed the tip of MegaSeadramon's tail and pulled the serpent back towards him. Then he thrust his trident onto MegaSeadramon's neck, and pushed it down slowly. "Now I shall present you the same kind of pain you have inflicted on me earlier. My trident is as sharp as your crooked horn...the effect shall be the same."

MegaSeadramon trashed about, trying to escape but Dragomon's trident had already punctured three point-sized holes on MegaSeadramon's neck. Red liquid oozed out, and MegaSeadramon yelled in pain. His body glowed before reverting back into Hookmon, with his blue navy coat smeared with blotches of red. Dragomon then dunked the pirate into the water, attempting to drown Hookmon up to the point of deletion. He however was forced to release his grip when a drenched Ardhamon resurfaced from the water and kicked him hard on the tentacles. Hookmon was thrown into the water, and the distraction gave Cyberdramon the time to deliver his most powerful attack.

The dragon crossed his arms over his chest and slashed the air, releasing sharp waves of dark green and grey. Ardhamon generated dry heat from his body and raised both arms high, forming a gigantic fireball. They then attacked Dragomon simultaneously, Cyberdramon focusing on the body while Ardhamon aimed for the head. Their attacks managed to force Dragomon to stumble backward, although his stature retained his balance, preventing him from falling. The two DNA-digivolved Digimon were not going to let their chance of finishing off Dragomon came to waste, and quickly released their attacks once again, attacking on various sites of Dragomon's body.

Albeit not heavily hurt, Dragomon felt the pain and was angrier than ever. Nobody had beaten him in such a manner before, and Dragomon felt that he had had enough of the fight. It was time for him to play a different tactic, and this would ensure his victory.

"Thousand Waves!" he roared, sending tidal waves crashing onto his two opponents. Both fell into the sea and Dragomon quickly raised his trident towards the sky. With an incantation, the course of the water began to shift abnormally. Dragomon generated waves from multiple directions, and the dark clouds from the sky released a black mist while streaks of lightning shot down. Soon a whirlpool began to take shape.

"Oh no!" Ardhamon cried out, jumping out from the waters. "Not another whirlpool."

Cyberdramon followed his fellow DNA-digivolved comrade's suit. He looked at the whirlpool intently. "I don't like the looks of this."

"Prepare to meet your undoing!" Dragomon said menacingly. The whirlpool grew in size, and strange force began to emanate from within it, pulling everything in close range into it. It grew in size, until it reached a fearsome twenty-metered diameter vortex. The pulling force that came from within the maelstrom increased in strength as well, and soon both DNA-digivolved warriors felt as if they were being pulled inside the whirlpool.

"We better get going, back to the island!" Ardhamon instructed.

Cyberdramon glanced at Dragomon, who no longer had his sight on them. "What about Dragomon?"

"I don't know about him, but if we stay we're going to be sucked in by that whirlpool. We better regroup too...think of another plan to face Dragomon."

"Now?" the grey-armored dragon warrior asked incredulously.

Ardhamon shrugged. "We're no match for him now anyways, better retreat back to the island where there are more of us than just the two of us."

As soon as those words were finished, Ardhamon darted away towards the island, not waiting for Cyberdramon's answer. The dragon warrior hesitated for a while, took a look at the whirlpool while resisting the strong winds that were threatening to push him into it. So far, he was able to resist the strong force of the winds, using his strength to maintain his balance in mid-air. However with his own energy depleting and the fact that Ardhamon had pointed out a valid point, Cyberdramon decided to retreat back to the island as well.

With that, he left for File Island as well. Dragomon watched Cyberdramon leave with a mocking sneer.

"Yes...go back. It will then be easier for the Dark Whirlpool to consume the island and all the pests together."

* * *

On File Island, the DigiDestined and the remaining Digimon there found themselves being outnumbered by the sudden invasion of what looked like fifty-to-sixty number of Scubamon. Kyubimon, WereGarurumon and Togemon, while stronger than the Scubamon individually, were no match against the large number of the Scubamon. The three Digimon circled around the DigiDestined and gave their best shot to prevent the Scubamon from inflicting any harm onto the chosen children of destiny.

Togemon punched away any Scubamon who dared to come close to her and the DigiDestined she was protecting. Some of them even suffered the wrath of her needles. WereGarurumon clawed viciously towards ten Scubamon with his sharp nails, severing their limbs in order to dispirit them. Kyubimon lit up her nine tails and blasted the Scubamon with her white flames, her feet planted firmly on the ground right in front of the DigiDestined. However, with them being so close to the chosen children, it was rather difficult for them to really deliver their best.

"We need to move away from the DigiDestined if we want to beat them quicker!" Togemon said desperately.

WereGarurumon grunted. "But that's impossible. As soon as we leave the children, the Scubamon would move in on them and harm them. I can't agree with that, Togemon. We simply have to fight like this." He kicked away an incoming Scubamon, and seized the weapons from three nearby Scubamon before rolling back to his former position near the DigiDestined.

The DigiDestined realized that they were now a hindrance for the Digimon to fight. They needed to get away from the open space at the beach, and into the thick woods nearby. With Togemon, WereGarurumon and Kyubimon surrounding them, it was hard for them to find an escape route. But a certain pair of sharp hazel eyes glinted as the owner of those orbs came up with an idea.

"I got it," Max said. "Kyubimon, do you think you can pave a way for us to go to the woods? That way, we can stay hidden there and you three won't have to protect us. You can focus on fighting these slimy freaks better that way."

The kitsune nodded, and immediately launched her Dragon Wheel – knocking away all the Scubamon that stood in her path. With the shortest path towards the woods cleared, the DigiDestined began to make a beeline for it with Togemon watching their back. Kyubimon ran along with them to make sure that the DigiDestined made it there safely. When the DigiDestined had safely arrived inside the woods, they assured her that they would be safe there as the Scubamon hadn't followed them. To be safe, Kyubimon scanned her surroundings to detect any unwanted presence. Satisfied that she couldn't detect anybody other than the DigiDestined for the time being, she left.

* * *

"What now?" Darien asked, after Kyubimon vanished from their sight.

"Now, we stay here and wait until the battle's over," Max replied calmly. He leaned against a tree and closed his eyes.

"Oh man, I wish I'm out there to see how Cyberdramon and the others battle Dragomon," complained Darien. "...instead of being stuck here inside here."

Jon shrugged. "I think Kyubimon and the others can only perform their best if they have nothing to worry about. Togemon, I noticed, was very hesitant when she wanted to spray those Scubamon with her cactus needles for fear of harming us. Without us, perhaps now she could easily prick as many Scubamon as she wants to. It's the same case with WereGarurumon and Kyubimon."

Suddenly, rustling sounds of leaves were heard coming from a direction. This was then followed by a snapping sound of a wood stick, as if somebody had stepped on it. This unnerved the DigiDestined.

"Hel...lo?" Kira called out nervously. "Anybody there?"

Two hulking shadows were then seen from the darkness of the woods. Both looked bipedal, and the DigiDestined were ready to make a run for it in fear of having them being attacked by the origin of the shadows. The shadows became clearer, and soon the identities of the shadows became apparent when they heard the somewhat mechanical voice coming from the taller shadow, and a noble-like voice answering it. Out from behind a tree walked out a familiar humanoid lion Digimon with muscular body, leather pants, and a black sword sheathed at his side.

"Leomon!" Kira gasped in delight.

Leomon nodded warmly. "I have come here to help you as well. And I've brought Andromon over with me."

As if taking his cue, the ultimate-level Andromon walked out from the dark shadows and joined them. However the android was silent, merely nodding his head to greet the DigiDestined.

Kanto looked around. "Where's Ogremon?"

Leomon laughed, and cast a momentary glance back in the shadows before returning his gaze towards the DigiDestined. "Well, our green ogre friend complained of being tired and had decided to stay behind at the factory. I guess he's not up to another fight."

A loud growl was heard from the shadows in response of Leomon's words. The DigiDestined jumped a little in surprise, but Leomon merely laughed even more. He didn't look bothered by the strange sound.

"You can come out from the shadows too, Ogremon," Andromon said. "Come and join us. The DigiDestined are wondering about you."

Out walked a cantankerous Ogremon, holding his club with one hand. He looked annoyed.

"You weren't supposed to see me," he said grumpily.

"My sensors have detected you trailing behind us in a two hundred meter distance from the factory," Andromon stated plainly.

Ogremon ignored Andromon and walked straight towards Leomon. "Hey, lion-boy! I demand that you take back what you've said just now. I am tired yes, but so are YOU, and I'm still up to another fight more than you. Got that?"

Leomon shrugged. "Sure, Ogremon. I take back my former statement."

Ogremon nodded, satisfied. He crossed his arms over his hulking torso and leaned against a tree.

Max cleared his throat. "We're glad to see you three... but Kyubimon, WereGarurumon and Togemon are outnumbered out there at the beach. We couldn't help them and have to hide here instead. Could you help them instead?"

"We'd really appreciate it," Jon said.

"Please?" Kira asked sweetly.

Ogremon raised a hand. "Say no more, kiddies. I'll go out there and help. I've gotta prove to Leomon that I am still up to it."

"My service I gladly offer," Andromon stated.

"So that leaves me to watch over you. Somebody has to stay back...and I guess I'm the 'mon for it," Leomon offered.

"Hah! It's just like you to take on the easy job," Ogremon laughed.

Leomon however didn't seem to be provoked by the remark and just waved it off. Annoyed, Ogremon snorted and walked away to the beach, followed silently by Andromon.

"You can go too, you know," Darien said. "We're perfectly safe here..."

Leomon's eyes glinted and all of a sudden he jumped towards the shadows, unsheathing his sword at the same time. A whimper was heard as Leomon sliced his sword twice. A clean-cut sound was heard, followed by a loud cry which was evidently not Leomon's. From the shadow, the DigiDestined saw a Scubamon limped out. Leomon jumped back as the amphibian burst into data particles.

"You were saying?" Leomon asked, with eyebrows raised.

* * *

The beach looked like an intense battlefield that early dark morning. Multiple Scubamon could be seen lying around semiconscious, all had needles pricked on their bodies. Several bore marks of WereGarurumon's sharp claws on their stout bodies. A large number of the undersea master's servants looked scorched to the bone, no doubt that Kyubimon's fires being the cause of that. However there were still more of them around against the three good Digimon, and they looked tired as well.

Togemon had several Scubamon climbing on her body, despite the fact that she was covered with sharp needle-like thorns. She tried firing her needles in hope of discouraging the Scubamon, but they didn't seem to care. Although within close proximity they were more prone of being injured, but with one down on the count several more just climbed on her. Their motive was to overpower her, and the large walking cactus could no longer bear the weight that was gaining on her. She tripped onto the ground, sending the Scubamon on her crashing down as well. Some were deleted upon contact with the thorns on her body, and Togemon made sure to at least impale the lasts of her needles on them before she was down and out. Her body then shone a faint green hue before de-digivolving back into Palmon. Palmon climbed back on her lizard-like feet and scurried to safety. Unfortunately, several more Scubamon stood on her way, forcing her to stop. Palmon quickly extended her vines to defend herself, but the Scubamon cut them off with their sharp two-pointed weapons. Crying out, the rookie plopped onto the ground as the Scubamon approached her, weapons raised high.

"I don't think so, creeps! Garuru Kick!"

Looking up, Palmon saw that WereGarurumon had come to her aid. She sighed gratefully and stood up once again as WereGarurumon kicked away the Scubamon which attempted to harm her. WereGarurumon slashed his sharp red claws onto the Scubamon, drawing out blood from the wounds inflicted from his attack. The werewolf then kicked away the Scubamon into the waters, rendering them unconscious.

"Are you alright, Palmon?" he asked, turning to face the rookie.

"Yes. Thanks to you," replied the plant-type Digimon.

WereGarurumon nodded. "Pleasure. You better take cover now."

Palmon obliged and ran off into the woods where she saw the DigiDestined were heading, and to her surprise she saw Ogremon and Andromon emerging out. Quickly pointing out the direction where WereGarurumon and Kyubimon were, she then used her vines to climb up the branch of the nearest tree she could find, and took cover there.

Kyubimon switched back and forth between her two main attacks to burn her enemies. At times she was successful and the unfortunate Scubamon would be incinerated, sometimes deleted if she had exerted more power. At other times the Scubamon were smart enough to use the seawater as cover, and Kyubimon's flames became ineffective. Right now, the nine-tailed fox found herself surrounded by the amphibians with no way out. She still had some power, but as there were more and more Scubamon coming she didn't want to waste her power on them. Also, the Scubamon had smartly dampened their exteriors with waters to counter with her flaming attack.

Kyubimon however needn't think further as Ogremon jumped in the scene.

"Need help?" he asked haughtily.

Kyubimon looked away. She still bore some hard feelings on Ogremon for being the ones who had deleted and absorbed her two Yokomon friends when the ogre was under the spell of Phelesmon. She said coolly, "Be my guest."

Ogremon ignored her cold tone. "Then stand aside and let the real 'mon handle this. Bone Cudgel!"

Expertly, Ogremon threw his ivory cudgel in a manner how one would throw a boomerang. The cudgel spun towards the Scubamon and knocked on each Scubamon's head before returning back to Ogremon's awaiting hand. As the Scubamon were distracted Ogremon delivered his Pummel Whack, throwing all the Scubamon into the waters. He grinned in triumph and walked away to fend off the other Scubamon that were still lingering around.

"Humph," Kyubimon groaned, and turned the opposite direction to further battle the numerous Scubamon plaguing the beach.

WereGarurumon now found himself fighting hand-in-hand with the mechanical Andromon, who proved to be of invaluable help. Andromon had provided ranged attacks which WereGarurumon was incapable of, while WereGarurumon covered the more physical based attacks as Andromon lacked on that part. WereGarurumon would deliver the kicks and punches and Andromon would finish them off with his spiraled Lightning Blade and his Gatling Missiles.

The battle continued until all over the island, bodies of unconscious Scubamon piled up. Initially there were about sixty Scubamon invading; approximately half of them were deleted while the other half were either still fighting or were unconscious. Despite Scubamon being ultimate-level Digimon, in strength they were no stronger than average Champions. Their leathery skin provided more protection than any other Digimon, but despite that they were still outclassed by the good Digimon in terms of power. At the moment, only fifteen conscious Scubamon remained.

However, that didn't mean that the good guys were winning as well. WereGarurumon and Kyubimon grew weary due to the long hours they had spent fighting the Scubamon. WereGarurumon then reverted back into Gabumon, while Kyubimon retained her champion form but was too exhausted to attack anymore. Andromon and Ogremon still were able to give a good fight but for the moment they stood guard.

Mermaidmon then appeared with Hookmon on her hands. Behind her Gomamon followed, and his marching fishes carried Tentomon, Biyomon and a knocked-out Agumon. She would have arrived on the island earlier, but she had to turn back to rescue Hookmon and to assist Gomamon in carrying his three friends to safety. Her tail morphed back into legs and seeing the Scubamon she quickly raised her anchor to attack as soon as the Scubamon showed any sign of taking an offensive attempt.

Everyone then looked up as they heard the sounds of shouting from the sky. Ardhamon was flying at top speed away from Dragomon, with Cyberdramon following him several meters behind. They couldn't make out what Ardhamon was yelling, but immediately figured that it couldn't be anything good. When Ardhamon was close enough, everyone paled upon hearing the DNA digivolved warrior's yelling.

"Take cover! Dragomon has a massive whirlpool coming to this island! We were almost sucked in by it!"

Everyone instantly looked at Dragomon's direction as soon as the two DNA digivolved warriors landed on the sandy beach. True enough, Dragomon seemed to have summoned a whirlpool from out of nowhere. Thick clouds rippled above and behind him as lightning struck the surface of the water. Faint incantations could be heard echoing the dark sky, and strong winds blew down from the clouds. The clouds broadened out until they reached the island, and everyone was drenched by a sudden heavy cloudburst that poured down as soon as the clouds reached the island. The rain soon turned into a storm; the downpour was so heavy that everyone was soaked and chilled to the bone.

"What's going on?" Mermaidmon wondered loudly, covering her eyes with her right arm. "I can't see a thing!"

The rain was also too heavy, that everyone found their visions obscured by it. Those with arms immediately placed them over their eyes to better see the surroundings, although that didn't really help much as all they could see was only the downpour.

"Look!" Kyubimon exclaimed, sounding genuinely disturbed.

In front of Dragomon now was a massive whirlpool, spinning steadily but with force. The force coming from within it soon sucked in the waters around the whirlpool and everything that came with it. The File Island began to shake as the darkened power inside the whirlpool threatened to devour it. Multiple maelstroms were created due to the nature imbalance that was suddenly created from the strangeness that was the Dark Whirlpool. Trees and stones near the beach were forcefully uprooted and sailed over the stormy air and into the whirlpool. The sands went flying all around and obscured the sights of everyone – both good and the bad. Some were even unfortunate enough to have swallowed the sands by accident, and ended up coughing severely.

* * *

Hookmon was awoken from his unconsciousness due to the rains. Rising up, he saw the commotion around him and wondered what was happening. As a marine and a pirate Digimon, he was rather accustomed to the storm such as the one currently happening at the island. However with his experience his eyes were sharper, and from the corner of his eyes he saw something that made his blood churn.

"The Bane Buccaneer!" he cried out, as the vessel was being pulled over by the maelstrom in front of Dragomon. Due to the weight of the vessel, it moved rather sluggishly over the waves, but nevertheless it would fall victim of the Dark Whirlpool. Hookmon then realized that an important artifact was still being kept safely inside his private study. "I must do something."

The buccaneer's voice attracted Mermaidmon's, who was standing the closest to him at the moment, attention. Mermaidmon was currently supported by her golden anchor, which she had pressed deep down onto the sandy beach to help her maintain balance. "Hookmon? You're awake now?"

"The Golden Digicore; it's still inside my ship!" Hookmon shouted. "I have to go and retrieve it. Who knows what would happen if the Digicore falls into that Dark Whirlpool?"

Mermaidmon glanced over the whirlpool. "But...it's too dangerous!"

"You know only too well that Dragomon is not to get that Digicore," Hookmon snapped back. "I'm the one who keeps that Digicore inside the ship...I should be the one who take it out as well." Without waiting for Mermaidmon's reply Hookmon ran towards the beach before jumping into the waters, his body glowing with blue lights as he did so. MegaSeadramon then emerged from the surface and sped towards the black ship.

"You can't do this alone," Mermaidmon whispered slowly... and went chasing MegaSeadramon.

MegaSeadramon reached the Bane Buccaneer and used his massive stature to block the ship from moving in towards the Dark Whirlpool. However, with him supporting the vessel MegaSeadramon wondered how in the world he would be able to retrieve the Golden Digicore. If he devolved, then the ship would move towards the whirlpool and possibly take him along into it as well.

"Looks like you need some help, MegaSeadramon!" called a familiar voice.

"Mermaidmon, you're just in time!" MegaSeadramon said, relieved. Mermaidmon had arrived with a gust of spiraling water around her. She hoisted herself up the vessel and landed onboard. She then walked towards the stairs leading into the basement. MegaSeadramon then instructed her direction towards his private chamber while he tried to balance the ship. Mermaidmon went in, and reemerged five minutes after with the black chest that contained the Digicore within.

"I've found it!" Mermaidmon exclaimed.

"Good. Now let's get back to the shore. I..."

The serpent's words were cut in mid-sentence as a bolt of lightning suddenly struck the five masts of the ship and singed the white dampened sails of the ship. The masts and the sails were flung towards the whirlpool, narrowly hitting MegaSeadramon in the process. MegaSeadramon and Mermaidmon then saw that the bolt of lightning was Dragomon's doing, as the undersea master was pointing his trident towards them. Astounded and scared, MegaSeadramon beckoned for Mermaidmon to climb on his body and he would take them both towards the shore.

Unfortunately, Dragomon wasn't going to let them get away that easily. He desired the Golden Digicore, and saw his chance to retrieve it. Raising his trident high, he commanded the force of the Dark Whirlpool to pull Mermaidmon and MegaSeadramon in, along with the Digicore that was currently in their possession. MegaSeadramon and Mermaidmon were drawn closer and closer towards the whirlpool, despite their struggles.

Mermaidmon clutched the chest holding the Digicore close to her with both arms, reluctantly releasing her anchor as it would only deter her. MegaSeadramon wrapped Mermaidmon with his tail and tried to resist the force of the Dark Whirlpool as he struggled to swim towards the opposite direction. In an act to save Mermaidmon, MegaSeadramon spun his tail and threw Mermaidmon all the way back towards the safety of the shores of the File Island where Dragomon could not harm her.

"I have to stop him..." he muttered, thinking over a plan to stop Dragomon once and for all. Deep down he knew he couldn't really harm Dragomon. Dragomon was a Legion of Darkness, and far more experienced than MegaSeadramon could hope to be. Besides, his strength was seriously depleting, what more was the fact that this was the second time within less than an hour that he digivolved into ultimate level; it was really taking a toll over him.

There was only one way he could think of. MegaSeadramon gulped as he thought over the plan quickly, and found no flaw of it. It would save everyone, but it would require a sacrifice... on his part. MegaSeadramon held little value on his life, his desire to defeat Dragomon was stronger and he wanted to avenge his deceased crew the day before. Besides, he had no other options.

He then turned back around with a renowned vigor.

"It's just you and me now, Dragomon. I'll make sure that you will never terrorize the seas of the Digital World anymore."

Breathing in silently, MegaSeadramon made sure to mask his attempt lest Dragomon became suspicious, and would be able to read his expression. He kept his face as emotionless as possible. An element of surprise would be a great help for MegaSeadramon to execute his plan.

Dragomon watched him intently. "Those are brave words MegaSeadramon...it is a pity that you cannot stop me."

Without replying, MegaSeadramon lunged onto Dragomon and furled his long serpentine body onto Dragomon's right tentacled shin. Grabbing tightly on the lower leg, MegaSeadramon then opened his mouth wide and released a stream of Mega Ice Blast and froze Dragomon's whole left leg. Despite the fact that ice would melt upon contact with water, MegaSeadramon had made sure that the ice layer was thicker so that it would buy him some time to further fluster the undersea master.

"You fool! Have you not learned that you can NEVER hope to kill me? Your pitiful efforts are futile!" Dragomon declared.

"We shall see. Mega Ice Blast!"

This time, MegaSeadramon fired the ice stream onto his own body and Dragomon's left lower leg. This act bound him to Dragomon efficiently, and MegaSeadramon needn't fear of the undersea master trying to shake him loose.

"Last time, you have saved me from your Dark Whirlpool! Isn't it really ironic now that I am the one who would lead you into the whirlpool?"

Dragomon snorted. "Last time, I have no intention of saving you, except for my own personal interest."

"I figured that," said MegaSeadramon. "Then I guess we could call this even."

MegaSeadramon's body then glimmered with red aura. The serpent closed his eyes and prayed that his wish would be answered. His body reacted with his wish, and the red aura enveloping him was the power he had received from the Golden Digicore the day before. The aura then spread out, irradiating all over Dragomon's body before the octopus mutant too shimmered with a similar red aura.

"What did you do to me?" Dragomon shouted. "What trickery is this?"

MegaSeadramon stared towards Dragomon's unfeeling eyes before replying with cold fury, "I may not be able to stop you... but I can DESTROY you... by destroying US!" he exclaimed with determination, and instantly the red aura lifted both of them over the sky. Black wave erupted from the Dark Whirlpool and enveloped the two ultimate Digimon.

"This cannot be! I am not supposed to be affected by the World of Darkness's effect!" Dragomon roared.

"You aren't...but I am, and I have cloaked your data readings with mine," MegaSeadramon said triumphantly. "We're both going down!"

MegaSeadramon then laughed loudly. His laughter sounded bitter as it echoed all over the atmosphere. The storm suddenly died out, the maelstroms over the sea calmed down and the whirlpool slowly diminished. The clouds parted, and the early morning sky was revealed – still pitch black, with traces of blue and twinkling whites of the stars darting over the cosmos. The moon, three-quarters full that night, emitted pale silvery yellow light which brightened the dark night. The only abnormality present at the moment was only the Dark Whirlpool...and even it was slowly disappearing.

The Dark Whirlpool's dark aura began to fully envelop Dragomon and MegaSeadramon. Dragomon, out of his true nature, began to panic as he struggled to resist the effect of the World of Darkness which was connected with the digital plane via the whirlpool. Dragomon let out a roar and raised his trident up, trying to let out an assault in haste, but MegaSeadramon's red aura seemed to be blocking the attack from being released. The thunderbolts released from the trident ended up striking back at Dragomon, and MegaSeadramon flinched upon being shocked. To Dragomon's annoyance however, MegaSeadramon continued laughing.

"Clearly, you have gone mad!" he declared.

MegaSeadramon stopped laughing. His eyes glinted menacingly as he muttered, "Probably, but we'll see who will be driven to insanity after being trapped PERMANENTLY at the World of Darkness. And here's a hint...I won't be around to see it."

Without warning, MegaSeadramon's long serpentine body began to disintegrate slowly, beginning from the tips of his tails, hair and fins. MegaSeadramon closed his eyes and spoke clearly in a haunting voice.

_"With my sacrifice, I now bind you for eternity in a world void of light and goodness! There will be no escape; this shall be my timeless curse upon you!" _

With that said MegaSeadramon's whole body combusted into data and swirled around Dragomon. The red aura absorbed the data, and diminished as the Dark Whirlpool consumed Dragomon wholly. A barrier of water shot up towards the sky, forming a whirlwind of water over the air with Dragomon inside of it. Within the water tornado the red aura flashed bright as a star, and pulled back all the remaining Scubamon that were scattered all over the sea region and the File Island. All of them were sucked inside the water tornado – joining them back with their master. Then a brilliant flash of crimson light exploded in midair before everything was calm again... as if nothing had ever happened there in the first place.

And it was then that the faintest hint of daylight began to appear from the horizon.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

Sorry for the long delay everyone. I am busy preparing for my finals as of now and couldn't find the time to update. This chapter was written throughout May, with some parts being added and deleted from time to time. In my opinion this chapter is rather difficult to write. Hopefully this turned out ok for the **1-year anniversary date** (6/6/05) for Legends of the DigiDestined. I wonder how this story will turn up by the time the big date comes by (6/6/06).

I mentioned something about including a subplot in this chapter, right? Well, turns out that the subplot didn't quite make it to the final edit :). I've written some excerpts of it already but if I include it in this chapter then _this_ chapter will become ridiculously long, and completely defeats the original intention of this chapter. The subplot will be expanded in the next two chapters, mainly focusing on chapter 28, and I think it will be the answer to some reviewers' question about a certain character.

Last but not least, thank you for the fantastic reviews, everyone.

**_Yami Vizzini_** – There you have it, the end of Dragomon... sort of. Remember that Dragomon is never killed in the series (nor really featured as well, so this opened up some possibility for the DigiDestined now and the future). As for Kira and Kyubimon, I have never said that DNA Digivolving will be the only way for the Digimon to advance into their ultimate levels. And I did mention of a possibility of a sixth DigiDestined, although it's still way in the future and there's also a possibility that I won't include him/her... depends on the way the story is going. And about that 'mercenary' part... well, I just thought that the said Digimon looked a whole lot like one so I described him as thus.

**_Digi fan_** – There you go!

**_Mermaid-Halfbreed_** – Another change of FF(dot)net ID I see. I'm glad that you are enjoying what you have read so far.

**_Jack the ripper_** – I did try to make it humorous, although I don't know whether I have done a good job or not for my attempts. Well I think this chapter pretty much answers your question. Thanks for reading.

**_DarkFictionWizard_** – Welcome to Legends of the DigiDestined, DarkFictionWizard! Thanks for the compliment.

**_Dark Qiviut_** – Thanks for taking the time to read the story, Dark Qiviut. About the plural thing on Digimon and their names, it's a mistake on my part. Thanks for pointing that out. And thanks so much for that wonderful comments.

**_Silenced Doves_** – Welcome to Legends of the DigiDestined, Silenced Doves!

**_Bluesv20_** – Ardhamon won't be the last 'legendary warrior' to appear... although in this story he is just a normal Digimon. And as for Omnimon, I really don't know yet. I haven't made any further plans for Agumon and Gabumon, and the other four rookies. They will appear again in the end of the story, but I haven't conceived of any plans to make them appear in between. Perhaps they will, as cameos from time to time. Only time will tell.


	27. Journal of the Pirates

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 27– The Journal of the Pirates_**

**_-_**

The sun shone brightly that morning, with the brilliant azure sky lacking of clouds. Considering the event that had happened just the previous night, it was indeed a beautiful day. On File Island, the surrounding had never seemed to be more beautiful than ever, with the sea reflecting the blue hue of the stratus. Marine Digimon were seen swimming about, playing with each other without a care of the world. Airborne Digimon were seen flying about freely, occasionally chirping out of annoyance when the marine Digimon sprayed water playfully towards them, but the annoyance didn't last long as both group of Digimon were then seen laughing at each other merrily, no grudges harbored.

It was a perfect day for everyone, except for a certain group of people and Digimon.

A crowd was seen gathering near the beach, where the battle with Dragomon and his forces took place the previous night. At one glance, it seemed like a ceremony was being held. Everyone was sitting solemnly around a single rock formation, which stuck out of the sandy beach unnaturally at nearly four feet high. It looked as if someone had stuck the rock onto the sands instead of it coming out from the grounds, and it was a rather hastily-done task. The rock itself was strangely shaped; the lower half was smooth while the upper half was jagged and pointed.

Surrounding the rock was the five DigiDestined, each accompanied by their partners. The DigiDestined each held in their hands different sorts of flowers and one by one they placed the flowers around the stone. The Digimon, now in their in-training forms except for Renamon and DemiDevimon, merely sat on the ground with their heads looking down. The DigiDestined then joined their partners, each looked sad and solemn. Darien was seen comforting Kira, who was visibly shaken by the loss of a friend. Jon and Kanto sat on the ground in a meditating style and had their devolved partners on their laps. Max was carving something on the stone, using a sharp-edged stone Koromon had found lying nearby. The goggled redhead teenager was assisted by Leomon, whose strength was more defined than the eldest DigiDestined.

-

A MEMORIAL TO HOOKMON

ALWAYS REMEMBERED AS A DEDICATED

PIRATE, CAPTAIN, ALLY AND FRIEND

-

Mermaidmon was seen sitting on a nearby rock from the memorial, singing dolefully. Her voice was sweet yet filled with sorrow. She didn't cry, but evidently she had done so earlier, judging by her red, puffy eyes. She cast a faraway glance towards the open sea, wistfully playing with her long golden hair which she had unbraided. The hairs flew in all direction as the silent zephyr blew past her. Nobody knew what was on her mind, but it was obvious that she was greatly affected by the loss of Hookmon. Under the rock where she was sitting was the chest holding the Golden Digicore.

After the DigiDestined, the Koemon crew of the Bane Buccaneer and the Burgermon family's turn to pay homage to their deceased captain. The crew was lead by the Koemon whom Kira and Renamon had befriended. The Koemon gave a short speech, before emotions overwhelmed him and he was forced to stop. Papa Burgermon then took it upon himself to continue the speech. Mama Burgermon was seen comforting everyone, ranging from her own two children Chibi and Ebi Burgermon, and the other Koemon crew.

The back row was occupied by the other Digimon: Andromon, Ogremon, Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Tentomon, Gomamon and Palmon. They didn't get the chance to get to know Hookmon personally, but they had seen how the pirate had courageously sacrificed himself to stop Dragomon, and they attended the memorial in respect to a fallen ally. Andromon however had other intentions as well.

Near Hookmon's memorial, the DigiDestined had also constructed smaller memorials in dedication to others who'd also lost their lives during the whole event. Kanto and DemiDevimon had constructed a personal memorial for Impmon, whose data was now residing within DemiDevimon. Then, the duo were joined by Jon, Kapurimon, Leomon, Ogremon and Andromon in building a single memorial for the fallen Guardromon and Mekanorimon whose lives were lost by the viciousness of Zudomon. Max and Darien together made a memorial for Monzaemon, who was deleted by Scorpiomon. The Koemon too were busy; they were working on building a memorial for their three friends, who'd fallen prior to their arrival on the island.

A slightly forceful breeze suddenly blew against the Digicore chest, and the unlocked lid was flung open, drawing everybody's attention. The Digicore inside was pulsating, and in split second it released showers of bright light which engulfed all the Digimon. The Koemon crew was the first to receive the lights, which instantly digivolved them into two species of Digimon: the yellow-furred lithe Apemon, and the bulkier white-furred Gorillamon. The wave then left them and died out after going through the trees.

"What is the meaning of this?" one Apemon asked. This was the same Koemon whom Kira and Renamon had befriended.

"Wow, neat!" a Gorillamon exclaimed, examining the cannon which was embedded on his right arm.

The other Apemon and Gorillamon scratched their heads in confusion, all of them muttering incomprehensible sounds. Nobody knew what was going on and the reason behind their Digivolution. Even the other Digimon and DigiDestined were baffled by the suddenness of the event. The elderly Burgermon couple however, had an idea.

"Perhaps this is the sign of all of you to finally settle down on a place," Papa Burgermon suggested.

"You are all welcomed to stay, of course," Andromon said.

"Gee...I don't know about that," said the first Gorillamon slowly. "We've been onboard the Bane Buccaneer for so long."

"I know what you mean. We've been sailing for quite a long time; I myself not sure whether we could adapt to this change," the first mentioned Apemon said. "But I think Papa Burgermon's right too. Why else would we digivolve into land-based Digimon, instead of a marine type like...Captain Hookmon did?"

Some nodded solemnly at Apemon's suggestion. Some others however, didn't. They didn't look like they were disagreeing, but from the looks of their eyes it was clear that they had something in mind.

"One thing's for sure though...we really have to move on," said the Apemon again.

"What about the Bane Buccaneer?" a different Apemon asked. "We can't just leave her lying around here, unoccupied?"

"I still haven't thought until that far," the first Apemon admitted sheepishly. Turning around to his mates, he asked, "Any suggestions? How about we star with you, Gorillamon? Yes you...the one standing behind the third Apemon from my left."

The pinpointed Gorillamon was surprised to be picked first. "Well...we could dismantle her to build some settlements for us..." he suggested in hesitation. Uproar ensued almost instantly, and the poor Gorillamon was forced to meet with more than a dozen pairs of eyes staring daggers at him. "It was just a hasty suggestion," he muttered.

"What are you, crazy!" another Gorillamon, standing on his left, shouted. "We've been onboard her for so long; now you want to break her apart just to build yourself some nice homes to stay? I don't believe you."

"I don't like the idea myself," the Gorillamon suggesting the motion said in a defeated tone.

The first Apemon raised a hand. "Friends, don't blame him. He was just suggesting an option, which I can safely say that it would be instantly overruled. Now, I need to know who among you who are willing to settle down and who still want to work on the ship. All those who want to stay on the island, raise your hands please."

A quarter of the whole groups of Apemon and Gorillamon were the only ones who had raised their hands. The ones who didn't raise their hands shot dirty looks over the ones who did, while the ones who chose to settle down averted their gazes from the hostile gazes of their comrades.

"I just have about enough of sailing," muttered an Apemon dejectedly. "Three of my best friends killed...I wish to see no more of this anymore. The island is safe, and looks like an ideal place for me to start fresh."

"I second that," the Gorillamon who had suggested the dismantling of the Bane Buccaneer said. "We'll always remember our times as proud crews of the Bane Buccaneer...but I guess some of us want to move on to a different path."

"Suit yourselves, then," a Gorillamon who chose to return to the ship said, somewhat begrudgingly. "I'm not sure what Captain Hookmon would think of you all though, if he's still here. To back out when..."

"Don't bring Captain Hookmon into this," the first Apemon hissed angrily to the Gorillamon. Closing his eyes, he drew a deep breath before opening them again. "Let him rest in peace. The choice is now ours... and I choose to continue as a crew to the Bane Buccaneer, after giving it a thought, although at first I wanted to stay behind as well. I however respect the choices of our fellow crew who want to start anew, as all of you should as well."

Apologies were exchanged between the crew who chose to remain as crew of the Bane Buccaneer and those who had withdrew from the service. What had started out sounding like bitter arguments soon turned to be a somewhat bittersweet event, as they all realized that they were going to be separated. In whole, three Apemon and two Gorillamon had chosen to stay behind.

The first Apemon then cleared his throat. "Then I guess that settles it. The only problem now is...we need a captain to lead us."

"You can be captain, Apemon..." said another Apemon, who then sweatdropped. "Boy that sounded really strange was it?"

"Exactly!" the first Apemon said. "We need someone different from us, to avoid confusion...Someone who is like our late Captain Hookmon, someone unique, whom we all can look up to. Someone with experience...someone with more power, seeming as we are all Champions now...someone like..."

"Her?" A Gorillamon said, beckoning a canon-endowed arm towards Mermaidmon, who wasn't paying any attention to them.

"HER!" The others nearly shrieked. The first Apemon blinked before his face broke into a smile.

"Of course! Brilliant! Mermaidmon's an ULTIMATE level Digimon...and she's also a pirate. Good idea, Gorillamon!"

"But she's a woman!" another Apemon protested. "They say women bring nothing but bad luck on the ship they board."

"Such silly superstition," the first Apemon brushed the comment off. "She saved us from those blasted Niximon TWICE, remember?"

A Gorillamon sighed. "It'll be so weird...if we are to work under her. I mean, we're used to Captain Hookmon. I wonder how she will turn up to be."

"Well there's only one way to find out," the first Apemon said vigorously. "Let's ask her."

He then strode past the other Digimon, the Burgermon family and the DigiDestined before reaching towards where Mermaidmon was sitting. The mermaid however didn't realize that she had company, as her eyes still stared sadly towards the horizon. Her hands were still playing with her hair, but she had ceased singing her woeful song.

The first Apemon sweatdropped; this wasn't the image a good captain should be projecting. But in Mermaidmon's case it was understandable, although Apemon wasn't sure why Mermaidmon took so long to get it over with. The crew was saddened by the loss of the bold captain as well, but they had moved on, as they needed to do. It was a way to ease the pain in a positive way, rather than continue to dwell on it. It was one of the first things Hookmon had taught them when he'd first taken them into his service.

Apemon decided to ask her about their offer anyway. "Err...Miss Mermaidmon? Can I have a word?"

Mermaidmon turned her head slowly until her sullen eyes met with Apemon. "Who are you?" she asked in genuine surprise. Apparently she hadn't realized that the crew had digivolved with help from the Golden Digicore.

"I was once Koemon, Captain Hookmon's crew," Apemon introduced himself.

Mermaidmon's eyes flickered momentarily. "Oh. And what is it that you want?" she asked, her voices sounded strained. She shifted her gaze away and Apemon could see that she was wiping her face with her shining hair. She then turned her face back towards Apemon, and the champion Digimon saw that the mermaid's face appeared to be somewhat tear-stained.

"Uhh...we are wondering, whether you...hmm...whether you...can lead us?"

Mermaidmon inhaled sharply upon hearing the inquiry. "Excuse me?"

"What I meant was... some of the crews still want to remain on the ship... and in order for the ship to sail we need a new...captain."

The mermaid raised an eyebrow, looking at the Apemon skeptically. "And you choose...me?"

"Err...yes."

"This soon?"

Apemon nodded.

"I can't believe you. Shouldn't all of you be mourning for the loss of Hookmon now instead of thinking to get a new captain?" Mermaidmon said bitterly.

"The late captain said that it's not good to continue to dwell on our past," Apemon replied wisely. "It was what he'd taught us when he'd first taken us under his wing. He had said that while we should mourn for the loss of someone dear to us, the mourning must be done without disrupting our progress. I'm now doing what he'd taught all of us to do. Perhaps he had an insight about this, I don't know. But I do know that the late Captain would have wanted us to move on and get on with our lives back."

Mermaidmon remained silent. She was considering what Apemon had just said to her. Deep down, she realized that Apemon was right. However, something else was still disturbing her. She needed to get it out. It was killing her from the inside, and she still didn't fully understand it.

"I don't know how to say this...but...I guess I...liked him, you know. Hookmon. I've never realized this until he's gone," Mermaidmon blurted out, and tears finally poured out of her eyes. "I don't know why I feel like this. I mean...I used to think that I like the DigiDestined boy, Darien...and I really am...but I have this feeling for Hookmon I never know what it was. It was strange...and I ignored it, and I know Hookmon never looked at me like that, although I know that he really respected me," Mermaidmon rambled on, as tears continued to flow out. "And I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I don't even _know_ you that well." With that, the mermaid finally smiled as she wiped the tears.

"Perhaps it is time for you to move on as well," said Apemon. He then turned around. "I guess I'll take my leave now, to let you calm down first."

"Wait," said Mermaidmon, stopping Apemon before he returned to his friends.

"What is it?"

"About your offer...can you give me some time to think this over?"

Apemon beamed. "Why certainly, Miss Mermaidmon; there's no rush. Take all the time you need."

Mermaidmon nodded. "Thank you."

* * *

The day went on and everyone decided to turn the day in to get some rest. However, about a hundred miles from the File Island, inside a cave on a small rocky island, a lone figure was sitting within the shadows cast by the walls and roofs of the cave where she was in. The Digimon, female judging by her shrill girlish voice, was humming something to herself as she threw some small seashells and clams over the walls.

"He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me..."

The voice owner reached her hand outside the shadows, and it was revealed that the hand was pale light grey in color with long nails painted deep red. She seemed to be trying to reach for something, judging by the way she moved her hands. Her hands brushed against a clam, and she grabbed it before throwing it over the wall.

"He loves me not! No way!"

Furiously reaching out once again into the light, the Digimon still didn't bother to reveal herself as she began to search for what seemed to be like another clam or seashell which she could throw onto the wall. There was no seashell or clam presence anymore, and over the wall there was a feet-high pile of them. Finally giving up on her search for an extra clam or shell, she dug her sharp crimson nails onto the walls and chipped off a small rock, before throwing it across the wall, deliberately shattering the pile of shells she had formed earlier.

"Ah-ha! I knew it! He LOVES me! Ha Ha Ha Ha!"

"Oh mistress! We're back!" two voices called out in a singsong-like manner from outside the cave. The voices sounded male, and very dopey.

The female Digimon groaned loudly and finally stepped out into the light. Her thin hands reached out first, her sharp nails digging the floor as she seemed to be struggling to move forward. It looked like she was crawling, and was evidently struggling to do so. Her head and body were revealed next. She had a very pale face, with black eyes and pointed ears. Her body was humanly-shaped, and was left bare save for some grey pads covering her shoulders and breasts, and a golden necklace. On her head was a peculiar headdress, white and blue in color and almost looked like it was made from something fragile. She stopped momentarily and flicked her billowing purple hair back as she groaned.

"GAAH! I hate this body! I'm so fat, I'm so heavy...I'm so BIG! ...I wonder if Lord Dragomon really likes me or not!"

She wiped some sweat off her pale face, and forced herself forward. Out from the shadows eight white and blue tentacles shot out, and the female grimaced upon the sight and turned away to face the entrance of the cave. Still crawling, she heaved herself forward before her hands slipped due to the wet surfaces of the cave's floor, causing her to tumble towards the entrance, and rolled into the seawater with a loud splash.

"AHHHHHHHH! This is so frustrating!" she screamed furiously after successfully resurfacing from the seawater. "I hate this body!"

"Err...mistress?"

Turning around, she saw two Digimon – her lackeys. One of them was a giant reddish-brown lobster Digimon, whose fearsome appearance was only a mask to his rather childish behavior. Beside the lobster was a larger-than-life blue manta ray, albeit smaller than the lobster. Both of them were looking rather excited about something.

"Yes, Ebidramon, Mantaraymon?" she asked, in a sweet, girlish tone. "You have news for me?"

"Indeed we do, mistress!" Mantaraymon said exuberantly. "We were..."

"Hey...I want to be the one to tell the mistress about it!" Ebidramon interrupted.

"Ebidramon, we've had a deal. I'LL be the one to tell the mistress while YOU...keep silence," Mantaraymon said calmly.

"No fair. You always get to tell the mistress the most interesting news."

"Well deal with it. I'm older than you, so I'll get to deliver the news. Now be a good lobster and stay right there, and don't open your mouth."

Ebidramon muttered something incomprehensible before he kept quiet, allowing Mantaraymon to deliver the news to their mistress. Mantaraymon nodded respectfully at the female Digimon, whose upper half of her body was the only thing they could see as her lower half was below the surface of the water. She glared at Mantaraymon and beckoned for him to quickly say what he had to say.

"It's all what the marine Digimon are gossiping about now, mistress...they say that early this morning, Dragomon has been defeated by a giant red serpent, with help from a mermaid and several flying Digimon," Mantaraymon reported.

Suddenly, Ebidramon let out a snort. He laughed and pointed a pincer towards Mantaraymon, "You don't even KNOW those Digimon's names now do you? Well, surprise! I do...I heard those Dolphmon speaking. The red serpent was called MegaSeadramon, the mermaid's Mermaidmon, and those flying Digimon you said were..."

"WHAT!" the 'mistress' screeched, cutting Ebidramon halfway through. Both Ebidramon and Mantaraymon flinched horribly upon hearing their mistress' high-pitched wails. "What do you mean, Lord Dragomon is DEFEATED? He's too superior to be defeated! He's a Legion of Darkness! He's far superior compared to those guppies! He can't be defeated! Tell me...is he like, _gone_-defeated, or just _not-deleted-_defeated?"

Mantaraymon bowed his body low. "I don't know for sure, mistress. They say that Dragomon..."

"Address him as LORD Dragomon, if you please!" the 'mistress' admonished. "How many times do I have to tell you? If I am to be the blushing mate for Lord Dragomon, then the two of you will work under him as well. So get used to it."

"Forgive me, mistress. Well, they say that _Lord_ Dragomon was trapped by this MegaSeadramon inside a giant whirlpool..."

"It's called the _Dark Whirlpool,_ for your information...I bet you don't know that too," Ebidramon said sulkily. "But who'd listen to me?"

"Thank you, Ebidramon, now hush!" Mantaraymon said sarcastically.

"Lord Dragomon's trapped?" the 'mistress' repeated. "Oh dear...this is bad, isn't it? Poor my love...he's there on his own inside that dark world he has connection with. I'm sure he's just waiting for his woman to come to the rescue! Oh fear not, my love..."

The female Digimon then raised her arms up high, and the waters suddenly spun around her, forming a tornado of water around her body. Slowly she rose from the surface, revealing her tentacles and a hideous lower-half body, which was absolutely...squid-like.

"Fear not...your one and true love, Calmaramon, will come to your rescue!"

* * *

The DigiDestined woke up from their sleep later in the late afternoon, and after a quick meal fixed by the two older DigiDestined everyone decided to go to a different beach on the island to ease their minds by dipping in the seawater. Renamon was seen prowling around the house, while the other four Digimon still remained sleeping. The weather was good, and the DigiDestined had no idea of what to do next after Dragomon was defeated, so a trip to the beach seemed to be only way to kill some time.

However, one particular DigiDestined found herself in an unsuitable position to join her friends at the beach.

"Aaah-CHOOO!" Kira sneezed loudly, cupping her mouth as she blushed. "Excuse me." She sneezed again, and winced.

"Bless you," Jon said, shaking his head.

"Are you feeling alright, sis?" Darien asked, concerned. He came over to his younger sister and placed a palm on her forehead. He frowned as he noticed that Kira was a little warm. "I guess it's a fever... Maybe a trip to the beach isn't such a good idea."

"No, no..." Kira said. "You guys go ahead, to the beach I mean. I don't feel like going there anyway, even if I'm not burning up."

"How long have you been feeling like this?" Jon asked.

Kira thought for a while before answering. "Oh...I don't know. Maybe it's because of last night. I mean, that was one hectic night, wasn't it? Those Niximon sprayed me with lots of water last night. I think that's the reason, or maybe I'm just tired. What I do know that I was feeling slightly cold when I woke up, when outside it's like a typical summer day." She shivered slightly. "I'm feeling it now too."

"You're shaking, Kira," Kanto pointed out worriedly. "Are you really ok?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. It's just fever."

Max gave the girl a skeptical look before he got up from his seat and walked into the kitchen. Some clinging sounds of a spoon against a cup ensued, and after a couple of minutes later he walked out...with a big mug. A delicious aroma of hot chocolate came from the mug.

"Here, take this," he said, and placed the mug in front of Kira. "Drink this and go back to bed. It's not really a medicine for fever...but you'd feel better afterwards, I think. It helps to get over the shivering you're obviously feeling right now."

Kira thanked the eldest DigiDestined and immediately drank up the hot chocolate. She then reached up for the box of tissue which was lying around the dinner table. Seeing that the box was slightly out of reach, Kanto nudged the box forward and frowned as he saw Kira took a tissue out and bent under the table. Everyone then heard a slightly muffled sound of Kira blowing her nose. When she straightened up, everyone saw that her nose was slightly red, and she was sweating.

"My mom always scolded me whenever I do that," Kanto remarked. "She says that it could get my ears infected."

Kira ignored him and bent down once again, blowing her nose. However a panicked gasp was heard when she straightened up. She was pointing towards her right ear. "It's like...something's blocking my right ear."

Kanto sweatdropped. "I told you not to do that."

"Relax...it's probably just the pressure difference," Jon assured. He passed Kira a bowl of peanuts. "Chew some of these and see what happens."

Kira eyed the nuts dubiously, but she took Jon's words and ate some of the nuts. She gasped again and everyone saw her relieved expression as she rubbed her right ear. She smiled slightly.

"Better?" Jon asked.

"Yeah...thanks," Kira replied gratefully.

"Maybe you should lie down for now," Darien suggested. "Can you walk upstairs by yourself, or do you want me to carry you?"

"Darien...it's just a fever. But thanks anyway," Kira said with a smile which seemed to be somewhat forced. She then got down from the chair, when all of the sudden she felt her knees starting to wobble. "Uh oh..."

However, her brother seemed to have quick reflexes as he immediately caught on Kira before she stumbled onto the floor. Kira grunted in annoyance as Darien scooped her up with both arms. But before she could protest, she felt that her eyelids were drooping down.

"Maybe it's not just a fever," Darien told her softly. "Let's get you up."

"I feel sleepy..." she muttered weakly. "Why is everything getting dark around here? What's going on?"

"Dark? It's not dark around here," Kanto said, baffled. He turned towards Jon. "What does she mean by that?"

"I think she's developing hyperthermia," Jon said worriedly.

"Hyper—what?" Kanto repeated with a frown.

"Abnormally high fever," the bespectacled blonde clarified.

"Oh."

Darien pulled Kira close to him and stood up. Kira was getting weaker and sleepier. Darien told the others frantically, "I'm getting her upstairs. Can someone look for the doctor...the local healer around here?"

As the dark-haired teen immediately rushed up towards the bedroom to put his little sister in bed, the other three DigiDestined looked at each other curiously. Renamon materialized near the dinner table, just in time to see that her partner was taken upstairs. Puzzled, she looked at Max, who bore a serious expression on his face. Quirking an eyebrow in a manner that was only typical for her, she decided to ask the tall teen about the situation.

"Is Kira sick?"

"She's having a fever. From the looks of it it's quite serious," Max answered darkly.

"I've got an idea. Can't I have DemiDevimon Digivolve into Wizardmon and make him heal Kira?" Kanto suggested. "Then we don't have to look for the healer around the island? We can save lots of time."

"It's a plausible solution," Jon agreed, nodding. "Let's get DemiDevimon, then."

However, Renamon shook her head. "I don't think so. Wizardmon is a healer, yes...but his ability is limited to only healing Digimon. Healing Digimon merely involves altering the injury, or to put it in our terms, the damaged data on a Digimon's body. I don't know how humans will response to Wizardmon's healing power, as you all are not data, but I fear it may have some side effects."

"So what are you suggesting?" Max asked.

"Taking the traditional approach," Renamon answered simply. "I'm going to find the local herbs expert to concoct a medicine for Kira's fever."

* * *

It didn't take long for Renamon and the three DigiDestined and partners to look for the healer. By sundown, they had returned with Leomon, Mermaidmon and a local healer residing within the forests of the File Island. Kanto and Jon each brought some foods prepared by the Burgermon family for Kira and the other DigiDestined, while Mermaidmon brought a book she'd found from the Bane Buccaneer to keep Kira entertained.

The healer, a rookie level Digimon called Tapirmon, inspected the unconscious Kira before jotting down something on a piece of parchment he'd brought along with him. He muttered something before closing his eyes, and clouds suddenly came out from Kira's head, and the little Digimon consumed it. Turning around, he explained his course of action to the DigiDestined.

"I'm feeding her bad dreams. It's essential to keep the girl in a healthy state of mind, and nightmares are just going to disturb her health."

Darien merely nodded, not really understanding what the healer had just said but assumed that it was something good. He then observed as Tapirmon began to jot more things on the parchment before he turned to face the tan teen.

"I have all the ingredients I have to make the medicine," he told Darien. "I believe it's a normal fever, sometimes Digimon have it as well. With the correct medicine, good nourishment and adequate bed rest, she should be up and running within one or two days. I advice you not to stress her with unnecessary troubles, as it would affect her psychologically. And, should you notice that she is having nightmares you are to notify me at once. The girl's partner, Renamon, knows where I live."

"Ok, doc. Thanks a lot," Darien said, before frowning upon something the healer had said. "And what happens if Kira's having a bad dream?"

"That's my specialty, I've explained to you just now," Tapirmon answered with a smile. "It'll ward off the nightmares, and it's a good nutrition for nightmare-eater like me. Do not worry though; it will not have any adverse effect on your sister."

"That's good to hear."

After preparing the medicine and the instructions, Tapirmon took his leave. Kira then woke up after several minutes, and was baffled when she realized that she was now inside the bedroom, and on the bed. Everyone was surrounding her.

"Finally you've woke up!" Darien said, kneeling beside her bed. "How are you feeling?"

Kira looked around, before settling her eyes on her brother. She yawned. "Sleepy. Tired...and I'm a little hungry."

"Look at what we've brought then," Kanto said, and showed the meals packed by the Burgermon family.

Kira brightened up when she saw some of her favorite foods were packed inside the containers. Seeing her reaction, the other DigiDestined and Digimon settled down around Kira's bed and had their dinner there. When the time came for Kira to take her medicine, she made a face when she saw three vials containing three different liquids of orange, brown and black in colors.

"What are those?" she asked.

"Your medicine for the fever," Darien replied.

"Do I have to?" she whined.

"I'm afraid so...now open up," Darien nudged gently, and fed his sister the medicine.

Kira nearly spat out the black-colored liquid on her brother's face due to its foul taste, but managed to restrain herself. Luckily for her, the other two medicines were better-tasted. Soon she felt tired and settled down to bed. Darien shooed everyone out from the bedroom, save for Renamon, Tsunomon, and Mermaidmon said that she had something to give to the sick DigiDestined.

"It's something I've found from Hookmon's private study," Mermaidmon explained. "It's kind of a journal written by Hookmon...and perhaps some of his predecessors as well."

"Shouldn't this be at the study then?" Darien asked.

"Well," Mermaidmon smiled. "Open the first page."

Darien did so, and the first page showed an old cursive writings. "_This journal is a chronicle of adventures which span for generations of pirates in the Hookmon family._" His dark eyes then trailed to the bottom of the page, and he continued, "_Should there is no pirate from the Hookmon line to inherit the journal, then it is the wish of Captain Hookmon the I, that his and his generations' chronicles of adventures to be shared with the others_...oh."

"I thought so," Mermaidmon said. "And... Hookmon's crew had told me this morning that they have chosen me to become their new captain, as they need a leader to guide them in their voyage. If I become captain, then the journal is officially mine, although I'm not from the Hookmon line."

Darien looked interested upon this. "Really? That'll be so cool."

"I'm still thinking of it though; I mean...it's too soon. I don't think it's appropriate for me to immediately claim the position." She looked at Darien for a while, causing the tanned teen to blush slightly. However Mermaidmon caught herself quickly and she groaned softly, "I really should stop doing this to you, you know."

"Huh?"

"I'm not proud of this, especially when this morning I finally realized of whom I really like..."

"I don't understand..."

"So I'm really sorry, for making you uncomfortable at times..."

"Well..."

"There. I'm glad that I've managed to get that off my chest."

Darien got the gist however, and merely nodded. For a moment the two of them were silent, before someone decided to have her say.

"Darien? Can you read the journal to me?" Kira requested softly. "Please?"

That caught Darien's attention immediately, although he didn't quite listen to his sister's request. Kira repeated her request, and Darien looked at the Digimon. Mermaidmon, Renamon and Tsunomon all nodded, and Darien smiled.

"Alright then," the teen said, and pulled out a chair. Kira settled in comfortably within the comforters, pillows and blankets. Mermaidmon pulled another chair towards the bed, while Renamon and Tsunomon sat on the bed. "Let's start from the first entry shall we...looks like we're having a two hundred and fifty years worth of stories to cover."

* * *

It was already nightfall around the island. Compared to the previous night, this night was indeed peaceful. Not to far from the island, a soft water tornado was approaching, gliding over the calm surface of the sea water. Behind the tornado, two large figures followed.

"There's the island!" said a screeching voice from within the tornado.

The tornado calmed down considerably, revealing Calmaramon's upper half of body. She eyed the beautiful island while sashaying slowly towards the island, although her movements didn't look refined at all. From behind, aided by the moonlight, Mantaraymon and Ebidramon stepped into where the moonlight shone and eyed the island.

"So what'd we do, mistress?" Ebidramon asked eagerly.

Mantaraymon swam forward. "Do we get to attack the kids..."

"DigiDestined," Ebidramon said in his singsong-like manner. "Really, Mantaraymon; my memory is obviously better than you. Next time, I'LL get to deliver the reports instead of you."

"Oh shut up you overgrown lobster."

"Take that back, flat fish!"

"Quiet, you two!" Calmaramon admonished. "We're not here to fight each other. Instead, we're looking for a way to free my love, Lord Dragomon, from the World of Darkness he's so fondly attended to, he's forgotten all about me. Well no matter, if I get to free him then he'll get to know me, and love me, and then we'll be mates!" Calmaramon then squealed delightfully, causing their two servants to cheer as well.

The hideous calamari abruptly stopped singing and raised a water barrier in front of her. From the barrier she eyed her reflection, and posed against it for a while. She eyed her face critically, pushing her purple hair back and forth before smiling evilly, revealing a twin set of small fangs.

"Do you think that Lord Dragomon will find me pretty?"

"Why of course, mistress!" Mantaraymon quickly said. "The Lord of the Undersea is a perfect match for you, the witch of the sea."

"You two even look alike," Ebidramon chirped. "Lord Dragomon's a huge octopus, and you're a squ..."

"I'm a WHAT!" Calmaramon snapped, staring into Ebidramon's sheepish eyes.

"Well, you're the most beautiful, alluring, stunning, posh, clever, skillful, slim, squ..."

"Ahem," Calmaramon cleared her throat.

"Oopsie...I meant calamari, not squ..."

"Ahem." This time around it was Mantaraymon who cleared his throat, while nudging at his bumbling comrade.

"Oops, I did it again...I forgot we're not allowed to say the 'S' word. It's a really, really bad word."

"Darn right it is," Calmaramon growled. "Now, how are we going to free Lord Dragomon? Any thoughts?"

"Mistress? Perhaps we could make the DigiDestined open the gate," Mantaraymon suggested.

Ebidramon bore a confused expression on his face. "But I thought Lord Dragomon was the one who opened the gate?"

"Yes, lobster, now quiet. What I meant was...the DigiDestined MUST know on how to open the gate. So, I say we make something to attract their attention. Then when they come here to face us, we could seize one of them and make those kids spill out the necessary information for us."

Calmaramon nodded and laughed shrilly. "I like the sound of it."

* * *

For two hours, Darien read the book for everyone else to listen. Occasionally he'd steal a glance towards the audience, which consisted of his sister and three Digimon, hoping that they would fall asleep. However to his dismay, everyone was wide awake and was paying attention to his story. Even Kira, who was supposed to be asleep by that time, was kept awake. Renamon and Tsunomon simply looked at his direction, listening raptly, while Mermaidmon leaned against a sofa chair she'd pulled out earlier, hearing the story out comfortably. Darien paused for a moment.

"Darien? Why'd you stop? It's getting very interesting," Kira said softly.

"With all these readings, I'm getting thirsty," Darien said, and coughed slightly. "I think I'm..."

"Don't move; I will be right back," Renamon got up quickly and vanished. She appeared a few seconds after and handed Darien a glass of clear water.

"You really liked the story, aren't you?" Darien asked the kitsune dryly.

Renamon nodded curtly and shot him a glance which basically said continue-or-else-suffer-my-wrath. It was Tsunomon who answered his question.

"Yes! Yeah! You really know how to tell a story, Darien," the little horned puffball chirped. "I really like that part when Captain Hookmon the IV made that discovery when he found the Phantom Triangle." According to the journal, the Phantom Triangle was a place located somewhere in the oceans where ships and Digimon which passed by it were known to be lost forever.

Darien looked down at the journal, which revealed a Digimon who looked exactly like Hookmon, but had black outfit with gold trimmings instead of Hookmon's navy blue and white. This was Captain Hookmon the IV, a pirate who sailed with his vessel called the Ghost Galleon, and Darien had been reading his entry about the pirate's discovery of the Phantom Triangle and the mystery behind it. He'd stopped at a suspenseful place, where Captain Hookmon the IV was just entering the triangle.

The teen smiled a conspirational smile. "How about we continue this tomorrow?"

Immediately, he was met with protests from Kira, Renamon and Tsunomon. Mermaidmon however merely smiled back and didn't say anything. "Ok, ok, I'll read on," Darien laughed, and continued with a convincing, conniving voice, which he'd thought out to be how Captain Hookmon the IV used to sound like.

The story went on as Captain Hookmon the IV journeyed into the mysterious triangle. Captain Hookmon the IV remarked that inside the Phantom Triangle were thick grey mists, and the fact that he could no longer see where he was going. The captain had noticed that the ship was changing direction and had immediately called upon his crew to remain at their positions.

_And then what I hear was the sweetest voices in the seven Digital seas, voices of angels which instead of descending from the sky they came out of the waters. Indeed all of them were beautiful, spirit-like, with long flowing hairs and eyes of deepest blue. It was strange as everything else had lost their color, only these creatures had their colors remained. I looked as these spirits entice the crew, and I took note of what they were singing. It was a song, sung by all of them in synchrony. Looking at my crew I wondered why these spirits didn't affect me as they affect the crews. I saw an opening...the mists seemed to be clearing out. Those spirits, or should I now say, water sprites, left us alone as I navigate all of us out. _

_But outside the Phantom Triangle, it was not the deep blue sea or the shining blue sky I saw. In fact I didn't even see the dark sky of the night, with the moon and the stars scattered around. What I saw was a terrible place. It was the ocean alright, but it wasn't in this world. I don't even know how to describe it. It was a dark world, everything was without color. The waters were murky grey, the sky coated with dark grey clouds, and there was no light, be it from the moon or from the sun. And to my utmost horror...I saw what fate became that of the lost ships and Digimon._

_I saw ruins of vessels which was renowned during my days of the pirate. The Black Harpoon, the Leviathan, the White Squall, the Sea Hawk... all of them were ships that were declared lost after journeying inside the Phantom Triangle. I tried looking for anyone I know, fellow pirates of various species of Digimon. None. Nobody was there but myself, and my bands of Goblimon crew, and..._

Pausing, Darien eyed the attentive Kira, Tsunomon and Renamon without moving his face upwards. He then jumped and screamed, "RAAAAAHHH!"

The effect was priceless. Kira screamed herself, nearly knocking Tsunomon down. However what Darien didn't expect was the fact that even Renamon and Mermaidmon were surprised. The furs on Renamon's body shot up, and the kitsune hissed in annoyance after realizing that she was being pranked by the teenage DigiDestined. Mermaidmon took a deep breath and glared at the boy, who was now laughing very hard.

"Sorry...I couldn't resist," he said finally.

"Darien, you...you shocked me!" Kira said shrilly and threw a bolster towards her brother. She pouted and dug herself under the comforters. "I'm going to bed!" she announced.

"Now look at what you've done!" Tsunomon and Renamon yelled. "We want to know the end of the story!"

Darien got up, and constrained his laughter as he approached Kira, who was pouting under the covers. "Sis...look, I'm sorry alright?"

"Humph."

"Don't you want to know the rest of the story?"

"I'll read it myself tomorrow."

Darien smirked. "Oh...well, I bet it won't be as interesting as how I read it. You know you loved it when I read stories to you?"

Kira's head appeared from beneath the covers. She scowled at her brother.

"Well...should I continue?"

"YES!" Both Tsunomon and Renamon screamed.

"Ok...nobody..."

_Nobody there but myself, my bands of Goblimon crew and... the damaged ships. Nothing else. It was like seeing an exhibition of haunted ships. Speaking of which, I'd be grateful if that place was even haunted. I could use of seeing some Bakemon or Soulmon around. However the place was empty. It was dreadful. For days, we lived on the stocked foods, carefully rationing what we could in order to make the supplies last longer. Digitamamon the cook wasn't so happy with that; he's used in getting his way when he wanted to cook. Still we're grateful for his diligence in keeping us well-fed, and also my gratitude extended to that one red Goblimon whose voice awed me and the rest of the crew. Heck, he'd sworn that should he survive the Dark World he'd retire from becoming a sailor and would try his luck in becoming a Digital World-wide singing sensation. _

_All those times, I kept thinking about what those beautiful spirits had sung to us. Their song seemed to be of a foreign language, something that I'm not familiar with. And that was really saying something; as I am proud of my proficiency in conversing in seven different languages. It was until one day, four weeks after we have stumbled into the Dark World I heard the red Goblimon singing while doing his sentry duty. It was exactly the same song, but the wordings were slightly different. I could tell that while he didn't catch the whole song, he'd got the general idea of how the song sounded like._

Darien paused, scanning the page of the book intently.

"Darien?" Kira asked. "Something's wrong?"

"No," Darien replied, and lifted the page up for all to see. "I could've sworn that there was something written on this page, but somehow it got erased."

Everyone else peered close to the journal and realized that Darien was right. They could made out traces of something being written...and instead of using black ink like the other entry the lost entry was obviously written by carbon, or the likes of it, which could be easily removed. It took nearly a whole page, yet it was only at the middle of the page where there was marks of something already erased from the page.

"I wonder what was written here," Tsunomon said.

Renamon folded her arms and sat back down on the bed. "It must not be anything good then. That's the only explanation why it was erased."

Kira settled back down. "Please continue with the story, Darien."

"Alright...it took..."

_It took us a while before red Goblimon realized that patterns of the words. He was always good with words. Hence, I left it to him to decode the song and the red Goblimon modified the wordings slightly. It was a spur-of-the-moment experiment, but the red Goblimon's idea was what had saved us from that Dark World. Mists formed around the Ghost Galleon and his voice echoed all over the atmosphere. Then everything went blank and after we've woken up, we were already back...Back! Back at the world where the sky is blue, the clouds are white, the seas are green, the mountains are brown and violet...We're finally back. When we reached the shore everyone couldn't believe that we have survived the whole ordeal. We were gone for more than a full-moon cycle. Exactly four and a half week had passed since we were last seen. _

_My crew, ever since then, was disbanded and everyone went on their separate ways. The red Goblimon sadly, had lost his mind after escaping the Dark World. We didn't know why, but he kept muttering things about the world of darkness. He had been driven to insanity by an unseen force, and couldn't fulfill his lifelong dream to become a singer. I really feel bad about him, and took him under my care. Unfortunately, one day he ran away from a city on west Server where we had deported, and we've never heard from him again. We never even knew what modifications he'd made to the ghastly song we had heard while entering the Phantom Triangle._

_It was due to this, I chose to become a fishermon, and settle down until another Hookmon is ready to take the Ghost Galleon and sail forth the open sea. As for me, I've had about enough. The adventures to the Dark World will always remain in my mind, but at this point of writing I have already forgotten what was the song red Goblimon created to provide an escape route for us. _

_This shall be my last entry before a new Hookmon will come and take over the Ghost Galleon. _

_Signed,_

_Captain Hookmon the IV_

"The end," Darien said solemnly as he closed the book.

"That was a very sad story," Kira commented, after exhaling deeply. She blew some strands of her sandy brown hair away from her mouth. "It's really sad that the red Goblimon has lost his mind after helping the crew escaping that Dark World."

"Dark World...the World of Darkness...it's the place where Dragomon is now," Mermaidmon said darkly. "Hopefully nobody will end up there anymore." She then eyed a bed near Kira's bed and decided to sleep there.

"Err...that's my bed, Mermaidmon," Darien pointed out sheepishly. "Are you suggesting something...?"

"Don't get any ideas. Just find another bed to sleep on, I'm tired," the mermaid said simply and closed her eyes.

Darien saw no point of arguing with the ultimate level mermaid. He stood up and stretched. "Well, I don't know about anyone but I'm bushed." He gave a mock-scrutinizing look towards his younger sister. "And you should be sleeping." He placed the journal on the bedside table near Kira's bed. "I'm going down to check out the others for a while. I'll be back, and you've better been asleep when I got back."

The girl giggled and settled down inside the comforts of the thick blankets and pillows while her partner merely sat down on the floor in a meditating stance. It was one of a way everyone had seen Renamon sleeping. Kira looked at her brother and waved slightly, "Good night, Darien. Thanks for reading the journal for me. I really feel better already."

The older boy grinned and winked as he carried Tsunomon out. "Good to hear that. Night, sis. Come along now, Tsunomon." The little in-training hopped down the bed after bidding Kira and Renamon farewell and hopped on Darien's open arms. Carrying the Digimon with him, Darien mused, "I wonder where Max and the others are. They didn't even come up here when Kira was screaming after I made that prank."

Walking down the stairs, Darien was surprised to see that the other three DigiDestined were already asleep on the couches of the living room. Given the mansion they were living in was luxurious; the couches were as comfy as the beds themselves, so Darien saw no point of waking all of them up. Koromon, Kapurimon and DemiDevimon were huddling together on a white throw-rug, sleeping comfortably as well.

"Looks like there's no need of waking all of them up," Darien said to his partner. "Why don't we go back upstairs and check on the girls once again. I want to make sure that my sister is asleep before we turn in for the night."

"But I'm not sleepy," Tsunomon protested, yet a stifled yawn betrayed his statement.

Darien nudged the orange puffball with a thumb. "Yes you are."

"No I'm not." This time around the little Digimon yawned once again and his eyes drooped.

Darien didn't bother to argue with his partner anymore and walked back upstairs. He crept in the bedroom slowly, after seeing that despite his brief departure everyone seemed to be sleeping. Kira was snug in the warm blankets with Renamon sitting close near her, and Mermaidmon was asleep in the bed that was meant for Darien. He eyed the other beds before his eyes set at the chair near Kira's bed. Quietly he sat on the chair and tried making himself comfortable, and kept the already-dozed-off Tsunomon close to him. After a while, Darien himself was sound asleep.

For a couple of hours, everything was peaceful and silent. Occasionally there were some quiet snores, inaudible enough to keep the others from awaking. The night was neither warm nor cold; it was just at the right temperature for keeping everyone comfortable. The windows were opened, permitting winds to blow into the large dorm.

The pages of the journal on Kira's bedside table were turned until it reached the page which had its entry erased. The journal began to shimmer with faint yellow light and a soft pulsating sound was heard coming from it, as if beckoning for somebody to come over and see it. True enough, it woke Renamon first, who was the most alert of them all. She was followed by Mermaidmon, who rose groggily from the bed and squinted around the room to see what was generating the pulsations. Darien and Tsunomon were next before finally Kira opened her eyes, groaning about having her sleep disturbed.

"The journal..." Darien noticed the strange abnormality Hookmon's journal was displaying. He snatched the book from the bedside table and looked directly on the pages it was currently displaying. "Hey...this page was empty just now. How come it's now filled with some strange, incomprehensible words?"

Tsunomon, Renamon and Mermaidmon peered over the page and frowned. It was nothing like they had ever seen before. The words were extraordinary themselves, fashioned in golden ink and written in an elegant manner. It was like the writings of Captain Hookmon the IV; with the only difference being the material used as ink. Darien and everyone else could've sworn that the erased entry was written by carbon, or a pencil, or at least something erasable. The ink used to write the new entry was somewhat solid, and bold.

-

_a wateyag ot lehl_

_a lowdr diov fo thgil nad donsegos_

_a lowdr fo karsdens_

_i monmus oyu_

_eht wateyag, etl ti eb donepe!_

-

"I've never seen such language before," Mermaidmon admitted.

"Can you read it, Darien?" Kira asked.

"I don't think it is such a good idea," Renamon advised. Her eyebrows were twitching in suspicion as she stared at the journal. "Those words were obviously erased before by Hookmon or his predecessors. And now, it has suddenly appeared with no plausible explanations. Something is not right with that journal...I can sense it."

Darien looked at the inscriptions once again and felt a sudden urge to read it out. "Maybe so...but what harm can be done just by reading it?"

Renamon couldn't argue with Darien's logic and kept silence, as Darien took the journal in his hands and eyed the inscriptions carefully. With a clear voice, he began reciting the words revealed on the book, "_A wateyag ot lehl...A lowdr diov to thgil nad donsegos_..."

Around the room, the soft breeze began to take pace, forming a slightly forceful wind. The windows and the door were suddenly slammed shut by the wind before it died out. Then something else happened.

"The situation is uncanny," Renamon remarked slowly, as the journal's pulsations intensified.

"I don't like this now," Tsunomon said, cowering. "It's scary."

Kira pulled the blankets close to her face. "You can say that again. Darien, maybe you should stop now..."

Darien however paid no heed to the others' words of worry as he continued with the final three verses of the incitation.

"_A lowdr fo karsdens...I monmus oyu...eht wateyag, etl ti eb donepe!_"

Immediately after the recitation, all hell broke lose. The door and windows suddenly slammed open from the outside, but strangely no winds flowed inside the room. The journal then mysteriously shook itself from Darien's grasp, making the boy dropped it on the floor. Black mists poured out from the words that had formed the incitation, engulfing everyone present nearby it. Darien, Kira, Tsunomon, Renamon and Mermaidmon...all of them were overwhelmed by dark fogs that formed from the mists, and suddenly Darien's voice repeating the incitation echoed in the background, despite the fact that the teen was no longer reciting them. Everyone's visions were obscured, and soon none could see or hear the other.

The commotions inside the room however attracted the DigiDestined who were sleeping at the living room, but when they arrived on the bedroom there was no sign of anyone. The window was left opened, the bedsheets askew, especially the ones on Kira's bed.

The only thing they saw which was out of ordinary was a glowing journal lying at the foot of Kira's bed, opened revealing a page with an erased entry.

* * *

**-**

**Author's Note:**

A quick update from me. I have this idea going on and on in my mind that I really have to put it down into this chapter. Why does this thing happen during exam time anyway? Anyone wanted to give it a shot of translating the mysterious inscription? The answer will be on the next chapter.

Anyway thanks for the wonderful reviews everyone. I believe I don't have much to comment on everyone's reviews so I'll just be brief.

**_Quinton Notwen_** – Whew...such a long review :D. I'm happy that you liked the chapter. I was worried about how it would turn up to be, and of everyone's reaction of Hookmon's sacrifice. And thanks for the compliment, though I believe I'm still only a rookie compared to some other renowned fanfic writers. Grammar mistakes seemed to be something unavoidable in my part. I appreciate your efforts of pointing that out though. No, I don't think of you as a jerk or a 'grammar nazi' (an interesting choice of word(s), by the way). I don't mind people pointing out flaws of my fic, and if it's something that requires urgent fixing, I'll do just that.

**_Yami Vizzini_** – Hookmon/Mermaidmon...or Darien/Mermaidmon. Heh. Well, in this chapter the big question is already answered, although I can't resist putting that joke between Darien and Mermaidmon in that bedroom scene. ;D. Mermaidmon turning human? Now, that's Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid you have been watching.

**_Aiko Namaka_** – Welcome to Legends of the DigiDestined, Aiko Namaka :D. Yes, I'm trying to use that kind of pace for this fic. Not too fast, but not too slow either, I hope. Enjoy the update.

And thanks as well to **_Sakura Wind Fairy, Dark Qiviut, Jack the ripper, Bluesv20, digifan_** and **_Sukara-Nodori_**.


	28. Into the Dark World

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 28– Into the Dark World_**

-

"Hey...where's everyone?"

Max, Jon and Kanto were surprised to see that nobody was around when they arrived at the dormitory-style bedroom. But it was obvious that there WERE someone just a moment back, considering the state of the bed sheet and pillows over the bed which Kira had claimed to be hers. They had been used. Two chairs were pulled up near the bed, indicating that they were used as well.

"Someone WAS here, I'm sure of it," Jon insisted, walking straight to Kira's bed. "I heard shoutings a while ago."

Jon had been woken up first, having heard screaming coming from the room on the upper floor. Recognizing the voices of Kira and Darien, he quickly had woken the other two up. The three of them then went upstairs to investigate the matter.

"Well, I don't see anyone," Kanto grumbled, while wiping his half-opened eyes. He clearly, was still sleepy.

"That's because the screams subsided before you woke up," Jon snapped back. "Max, did you hear something a while back?"

Max didn't reply. Something had caught eyes from the foot of Kira's bed. It was a leather-covered book, and strangely it was glowing. He walked to Kira's bed and picked up the book. "Strange...I haven't seen this around before. To think of it, I haven't seen a glowing book before."

The teen flipped over the pages of the book, and noticed that it was a journal. The journal attracted the attentions of the two younger boys as well. They huddled near him and examined the book, which began to dim. After a few seconds the book was back to its former non-glowing state.

"You're sure that it's not a trick of light?" Kanto asked skeptically, while stifling a yawn.

Jon looked at Kanto squarely. "Maybe you should go and wash your face. That'll give you a clear state of mind."

"I guess," the strawberry-blonde nodded, and walked away.

After Kanto was out of the room, Jon turned to Max. "What do you think of it?" he asked, referring to the journal.

"I don't know for sure, but something's fishy about this book. And where would Darien and Kira be at this hour? I certainly don't think that Darien would take Kira out for a walk, considering her fever. Judging by the way he cares about Kira, I don't think that he'd allow her to even get out of the bed."

Jon nodded. "Yeah, I think so too, and I KNOW it too. Back home, there was one time I had a fever...and I got exactly the same kind of treatment like Kira get from him. He wouldn't even allow me to go back home that night, offering me to stay over at his room instead. He even called my dad to explain everything. No...look, even Renamon, Tsunomon and Mermaidmon aren't around."

"Renamon could be invisible," Max pointed out. He looked around and called, "Renamon? Are you around?"

No reply came. "Yep, she's not here as well," Jon said. "This is really peculiar. Why would they be gone all of a sudden? I heard them screaming just a few minutes ago."

"Well, it has to be the book," Max said determinedly. "There's no other explanation."

"I suspect it too, but how can you explain a book causing the disappearance of two DigiDestined and three Digimon?" Jon asked dubiously.

"Well, this IS the Digital World. Anything is possible." Max then gave the blonde a look which seemed as if it would settle the matter.

The two of them then examined every pages of the journal, and realized that it belonged to Hookmon, and other Hookmon pirates before him. However they didn't have the time to read all the entries. Scanning the pages one by one, they finally came across the page where the entry was erased.

"This is strange. All the pages have at least something being written," Jon said. "Why is this page empty? The pages after this one are filled as well."

"No, look." Max pointed with his finger towards the center of the empty page. Then he slanted the book slightly, making the light from the table lamp to lit the page. Both could see that something HAD been written on it, but somebody seemed to have erased the entry.

Jon scratched his chin. "While I don't see the connections between Darien and Kira's disappearance with an erased page, somehow I think that this holds the answer. Obviously Darien and Kira were reading this journal...then something happened, and whatever that something is it was responsible for our missing friends."

"Kind of like the way I see it," Max said.

"But that's all the connection I see," Jon admitted.

Max nodded. "So all we have to do is to retrace their steps. You know, like in those detective novels? Perhaps that way we can find the connection between this book and our friends' disappearance."

Jon was doubtful. "Isn't that dangerous? This journal is obviously not an ordinary journal. It _glowed_. What if--"

"So you'd rather let them just disappear?" Max cut in. "Listen. THEY might be in danger right now. Who knows where they are?"

"I guess you're right," Jon said.

The two DigiDestined then took the book down, and were surprised to see that Kanto had once again fallen asleep on the couch. Deciding not to wake him or the Digimon until they'd gotten down to the matter, they went to the dining room and began reading the entries from the beginning.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

As soon as the mists cleared out, the siblings DigiDestined, their partners, and Mermaidmon could see that they were no longer inside the large room. Instead, they seemed to be outside. They were standing on a pathway made out merely of grey land. On the sides, trees grew thickly side by side. Nobody could see where the path had originated and where it was leading to.

"Everyone ok?" Darien asked slowly.

"I guess so," Kira said slowly. The Digimon murmured the same thing.

"Where are we?" Mermaidmon wondered. Her eyes were taking in all the details they could see. "It's dark all around here. Are we still on File Island?"

"I don't think so," Renamon answered shiftily. "This place feels different. This is certainly not File Island."

"Yeah...this place kind of reminds me of that time when Dragomon covered the File Island with those shadows," Tsunomon said thoughtfully.

Renamon's fur stood up slightly. She grunted, while looking around with careful eyes. She eyed the directions the pathway was leading too. Looking at one side, she could sense incoming danger. However, strange as it was, the kitsune was certain that it was the right way to go. Turning around to face the other pathway, the feeling of danger faded, but so did the certainness. Renamon couldn't figure out what was lying ahead of the second pathway. She didn't sense any danger by going that way, but she didn't feel that it was the right way to go as well.

"What's eating you?" Darien asked the rookie fox Digimon.

"I am trying to find a way for us to go..." Renamon huffed before she stopped midway. Then she glared towards the boy. "...which is something I shouldn't be worrying about if you didn't read those words in Hookmon's journal," she pointed out.

"Well, I didn't see you stopping me back then," Darien countered, crossing his arms across his chest and eyed the fox back defiantly.

"I told you that I didn't think that it was such a good idea," Renamon shot back.

Darien was about to say something back, but he was stopped when Kira sneezed loudly. Looking at his sister, he saw that she was trembling. Kira's clothes weren't the warmest of all, as it was made for summer. Thinking over quickly, he took off the red shirt he was wearing and quickly flung it over Kira's shoulders, leaving him with a black tank-top. However he wasn't the one who was sick, so the chilly air around them didn't bother him. However, it was obvious that Kira needed and appreciated the extra warmth.

"Thank you," she sniffed. Then she looked up to her brother and her partner Digimon. "Darien, Renamon...please don't fight."

Mermaidmon stepped forward. "Kira is right. I don't see the point of you two blaming each other. From the way I see it...if I didn't bring the book to the mansion then this wouldn't have happened in the first place."

The dark-haired teenager and the kitsune looked at each other before the former extended his hand forward. "Kira's right. Truce?"

Renamon accepted Darien's hand. "Alright. And I'm sorry for putting the blame on you."

Darien smiled. "Just forget it," he assured. "Anyway...I saw you looking for the right direction. So where do you think we should head to?"

Renamon explained her dilemma. "I just don't know which way to choose. One seems right, but I can sense danger coming with it as well. The other is relatively safe, but I'm quite certain that it is not the right way."

"When you said that one seems right, do you think that it could lead us back to the mansion?" Tsunomon chirped.

Renamon thought for a moment before replying, "Possibly. I'm not entirely sure."

Kira shivered. "You don't think we're in this 'Dark World' mentioned by Captain Hookmon the IV, do you?" she asked suddenly. "He mentioned about a dark world without color...and the sky's with those grey clouds. Wherever we are...it fits the description, don't you think?"

"Now that you mentioned it...yeah," Darien said. His expression shifted slightly.

"Then this path with danger ahead is definitely out of question," Renamon said quickly. "If this is the World of Darkness, the Dark World as mentioned by the journal, then it is not worth the risk. Dragomon is banished here..." her voice quivered considerably when she said that.

What Renamon said instantly caused the others to worry as well. It was just the previous day when Hookmon had sacrificed himself to seal Dragomon inside the world of darkness for eternity. Now, they were inside the world of darkness as well. Dragomon needn't escape the dark world; the DigiDestined had traveled into the world instead.

"I shouldn't have read that incantation..." Darien murmured, feeling guilty instantly. 'What have I done?' he thought. 'I've placed myself, Kira and the others in danger!'

"Don't go there," Mermaidmon said firmly. "What's that incantation got to do with this anyway? We're not even sure we're in the dark world anyway, right? For all we know...we might just be at a hidden corner of the File Island." Though she had said that, Mermaidmon didn't really sound like she believed it.

Everyone else wanted to belief that, but what Renamon had said came to mind. She was sure that wherever they were, they were no longer on File Island. Besides, the connection was there. The descriptions given by Captain Hookmon IV matched the world they were currently in.

"The incantation was heard when Captain Hookmon the IV was about to enter the Phantom Triangle," Kira said darkly, before she sneezed again. "The poor red Goblimon managed to catch all the phrases sung by the water sprites. The incantations read by Darien were the song. Red Goblimon had done some changes to the incantations to open a gateway back to the Digital World...and it resulted in him losing his mind."

Everyone thought about that silently. Renamon once again eyed the two different ways led by the pathway they were on. Which one should she choose? Somewhere deep in her heart, Renamon felt that she had to choose the path which she'd felt as the right path. But thinking about the danger that came with it, Renamon wondered whether the danger could be Dragomon. There was no way any of them could fight Dragomon.

But then again, the safe way didn't really have any favorable outcome as well. While they might be safe, but they'd never find a way home. They could be trapped inside the dark world for a long while, safe yet doomed. Eventually they'd die out of starvation, or of other reason. And neither of them knew what modification they should made to the song.

While Renamon was in deep thought, everyone else had chosen to sit on the dirt ground. Out of boredom, Darien picked up a long wooden stick and began to draw the incantation on the ground. He stared at it momentarily before a frown formed on his face.

"I didn't see how these words could make any sense!" he exclaimed in frustration, and threw the stick away after all the incantations were written.

Everybody else peered close to the incantations and tried to make any sense of it. It was then that they noticed the winds blowing through the trees. Strange whispery sounds resulted from it. It sounded gibberish at first.

_ANAGA...ANA...GA...ANA...GAR...AM...AN...AGA...RAM..._

"What's that sound?" Kira asked fearfully.

Mermaidmon's eyes widened slightly. "I think somebody, whoever it is, is trying to tell us something. Listen!"

_AN...AGRAM...AN...GRA...NA...GRAM...ANAG...RAM...ANA...GRAM...A...NAGRAM..._

"Anagram!" Renamon whispered loudly. She eyed the incantations dubiously. "Could the incantations be anagrams?"

"Try transposing the letters..." Mermaidmon suggested slowly.

Darien began to shift the letters of the incantations back and forward, with help from Tsunomon. Everyone managed to make out some words, until all five lines were successfully decoded to form words that actually made some sense. Everyone then gasped upon setting sight on the completely translated incantations.

"Don't say it out loud," Darien reminded. 'How ironic, considering I'm the one who had said it out loud in the first place,' he thought silently.

_A gateway to hell  
a world void of light and goodness  
a world of darkness  
I summon you  
the gateway, let it be opened!_

"This is bad," Mermaidmon said softly. "The song, the incantations...it's actually a chant to open the gateway."

"I wonder what changes made by the Goblimon in this song," Tsunomon said. "Maybe we can go back to the real Digital World that way."

"And risk insanity? No thank you," Kira scoffed.

"I don't think we're going to be sane for long if we are stuck here," Renamon interjected quietly.

"So what other options do we have?" Darien asked.

Mermaidmon stood up instantly and looked at one of the directions provided by the pathway. "Well, we could see what's at the end of the path instead of sitting here, waiting for a miracle. At least it gives us something to do. Renamon, which way is a surefire way for us to head home?"

Renamon got up promptly and pointed to the direction facing the back of Mermaidmon. "There. But it is also a dangerous one."

Mermaidmon snorted. "Well, better die trying than to go towards the safer way and end up stuck here."

The DigiDestined siblings thought about their options. Darien didn't quite mind for his safety; he was more worried about his sister's safety and of his currently in-training partner too. If they weren't there, he would gladly follow Mermaidmon trudging the more dangerous trek. But he didn't really have the chance to consider his options much longer, as Kira had made up her mind.

"I'm following Renamon," she declared.

Darien looked at his sister incredulously. "Are you sure?"

"I believe Renamon. She's never let me down. If she says that this way is the right one, then I'll go that way."

Renamon beamed upon hearing her partner's words, though she made great deal of trying to hide it. Of course, somebody had to point out that certain fact to everyone.

"Hey look! Renamon's blushing!" Tsunomon chirped.

"I do not!" the kitsune barked back. Her expressions then softened as she met Kira's gaze. "But I really appreciate Kira's trust on me. I will do everything to ensure her safety. So Darien, don't worry about your sister too much."

"I'm her big brother; it's my job to worry about her," Darien said, smirking as he ruffled his sister's long hair playfully.

"So that settles it," Mermaidmon said. "Let's move."

* * *

Meanwhile back on File Island, everything was dark and peaceful except for the beach located somewhere east. There, the Bane Buccaneer shone a bright yellow light, and the ship seemed rather lively either onboard or at the beach.

At the beach, a crowd of Apemon and Gorillamon were seen talking with the island's locals. The ship's crew was stocking up some food, and the locals were more than happy to help them gather some fruits and vegetables which grew on the succulent grounds of the island. The Burgermon family was there as well; with the adults conversing with the locals while the children playing around happily with some of the younger rookie and in-training Digimon.

Onboard, yet another group of Apemon were seen climbing up the masts, cleaning them while detaching the sails from the masts. With them was a group of gear-like Digimon called Hagurumon. On the ship itself the Gorillamon were seen cleaning up the deck. Andromon was seen giving out instructions towards more Hagurumon which were hovering all over the deck. He was holding a roll of what looked like a blue-print, containing a picture of the Bane Buccaneer with some notes being jotted down. It seemed that the Bane Buccaneer was undergoing some modifications and remodeling.

"Alright now! Apemon, Hagurumon...I think we can lower the old sails now, and replace it with new ones," Andromon called.

"Will do, Andromon!" the Apemon and the Hagurumon called back.

The first Apemon (the one who'd Digivolved first in the previous chapter) walked up to the ultimate level android. "It's really nice of you to offer your service in improving the ship. I'm still not sure whether Captain Mermaidmon or the late Captain Hookmon will like it, but I have to admit it's a very welcomed change. It's quite ingenious, actually. That way, we won't have to worry if there is danger on the oceans. We could just avoid it rather than tackling it."

"I am happy to be of service," Andromon replied. "Besides, from what I have heard all of you had faced quite a number of perilous situations. One of the Gorillamon has told me about the time when the DigiDestined were onboard, Dragomon's forces attacked all of you and had taken the lives of several crew. Such danger could be avoided should this attempt be successful."

Apemon smiled as he recalled something. "Well...the late captain always said that ships are always meant to sail on the open sea. I wonder what his reactions would be like if he sees this."

"Time calls for some changes to be made; and in my opinion this is for the better," Andromon said. Looking up, he called out to the dangling Apemon and Hagurumon. "All right, are the new _solar_ sails secured?"

"All done, Andromon!" the Hagurumon replied.

"Good. Now let us see what we have got." Andromon made a signal with his metallic arm.

Instantly, the Apemon and Hagurumon released the sails. The new sails were absolutely different from the old ones. Painted silver, the fabric used to make the sails seemed to be much more durable than the old pearly white ones. However, what marked the changes were the fact that instead of a single sheet of fabric billowing down each mast, one mast now contained three to four large, separate empty balloon-like sails. The ones positioned from the tip being the smallest and the ones way down near the deck were the largest. Right now, the balloon-sails seemed to be void of air, and resembled just like the normal (albeit smaller) sails in their airless state.

"Beautiful. Now all we need to do is wait for sunrise to see whether the solar sails work, or not," Andromon said.

With him admiring the new sails, he failed to notice that from the shadows, three Digimon were approaching the island.

* * *

"Wow wee...isn't that pretty?" Ebidramon said in awe as he watched the ship.

"What do you mean, _pretty_? I'M supposed to be the pretty one around here!" Calmaramon hissed.

Ebidramon bowed his head towards the smaller female Digimon. "Oh yes, you _are_ the prettiest one around, Mistress Calmaramon. I was referring to the ship over there. Don't you think that it looks quite pretty there?"

Mantaraymon quietly said to himself, "Suck up." He then chuckled to himself while remaining inconspicuous to Calmaramon and Ebidramon.

Calmaramon cast a look, and snorted. She wasn't impressed. "You're ogling an inanimate object there, Ebidramon. How sad. Rather than wasting your time staring at the ship, you're better off staring at ME. At least, I'm going to be flattered. What does that ship knows?"

"Aww...mistress. I just like seeing the ship. I've always dreamed of getting on board one of those ships," the large lobster said.

Mantaraymon snorted and baby-mouthed his champion-level comrade, but turned away innocently when Ebidramon glared at him.

Calmaramon smiled evilly and pointed two fingers towards the brown Digimon. She then thundered at Ebidramon with a high-pitched girlish voice, "You know...I could always take back your champion-form powers. Right now and right here, if you please. If you're so tired of staying in your champion form, then I'll be happy to change you back to your pathetic rookie form of Betamon."

"Oh no, mistress. I don't mean it that way!" Ebidramon said, horrified.

"Ebidramon's in trouble...Ebidramon's in trouble..." Mantaraymon sang mockingly under his breath.

"Oh be quiet, you two!" Calmaramon barked, glaring at both Ebidramon and Mantaraymon altogether. "I have a plan."

"Ooh...!" both Ebidramon and Mantaraymon said in delight. "Let's hear it!"

"Listen closely, then..."

* * *

"Any luck?"

Max looked up from the journal he was reading and saw Jon looking at him eagerly. "Not yet," he sighed wearily. He stretched his arms and yawned. "I'm really ready to turn in for the night now."

For more than an hour, the two DigiDestined had taken turns in reading the journal, while Kanto was still sleeping with the Digimon. Both were quite tired, but were adamant in finding clues in their friends' disappearance. Max had fixed himself and Jon coffee, but as Jon was still young the redhead didn't allow him to drink more than he should. However, one cup of coffee was enough to keep the young blonde going, while barely having any effect on Max.

"You look tired," Jon pointed out. "Don't coffees supposedly able to keep you up?"

Max shrugged. "Don't I know it. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I drink them all the time back home, juggling schoolwork, housework and all... I'm now rather immune to it," he mused to himself.

"Oh...well, if you need to lie down for a while just do so. Force Kanto to get up or something, he's been sleeping for a LONG time."

"Don't you need to go sleep? Its way past YOUR bedtime," Max pointed out.

"Nah! I won't sleep until I unravel this mystery," Jon declared, and finished the coffee he was drinking, which was actually his first cup, while Max had already finished his fourth. "Really, go and lie down for an hour or so...I'll wake you up if I find something."

"I'll wake Kanto up to keep you company, although I doubt he'd like it," Max said finally, and walked out from the dining room with Jon merely waving at him with one flick of his hand.

However just as he was about to wake Kanto from his deep slumber, an urgent knock of the door forced him to do otherwise. Walking over to the door, the only one he could think of that would come in the dead of the night was the Digimon healer who was treating Kira. Well, if it was that Tapirmon Max would just have to inform him about Kira's mysterious disappearance.

But it wasn't the Tapirmon. Instead, it was the two Burgermon children – Ebi and Chibi Burgermon. They were panting, flushed, and more importantly, looked like something bad had happened to them.

"Max...please, we need the DigiDestined's help! There's an attack at the beach," Ebi Burgermon panted.

Max frowned. "Already? I thought we'd taken care of Dragomon and his forces yesterday! Who is it this time?"

"We don't know their names," Chibi Burgermon said. "But it's an UGLY SQUID, with her two sidekicks. They're wrecking havoc near the Bane Buccaneer."

"Ugly squid, huh?" Max repeated. He quirked an eyebrow in slight amusement. "Alright. Don't worry. Help's on the way."

* * *

Following the path they had chosen earlier, the Kanemuchi siblings as well as the accompanying three Digimon were finally led towards the beach. It was a sight to behold. Their surroundings were just like what the journal had mentioned. Over there, everyone got a glimpse of the eerie atmosphere around them. The sky was dull grey, with thick clouds. Finally getting a better glimpse of the sky and the horizon, it was hard to decipher whether it was night, or day. Everything over there lacked color and warmth.

The sea, true by the book, was dark murky grey in color. What caught the DigiDestined and Digimon's attentions were the wrecked vessels that were scattered across the sea. It gave an eerie look of the world of darkness they had all stumbled into.

"It's just like the way described by the journal!" Kira gasped. "How awful!"

"Ditto to that," Mermaidmon said softly.

Everyone then walked around the beach quietly, unsure of what to do. For once, they had expected Dragomon to wait for them there...but were relieved when the Legion of Darkness was absent. They were in no shape to fight a strong ultimate Digimon such as the said Legion. All they wanted to do was to find a way home.

"Any clues on how we're going to go back?" Darien asked nervously.

Renamon scanned her surroundings. Her furs were standing on ends. "I don't know. But I do know is that we are not alone. Somebody else is watching us from...somewhere. I can't place it exactly."

"I don't see anybody." However, just as soon as Darien said that, ghostly moaning sounds were heard coming from the sea.

Everybody jumped instantly, and Kira nearly collapsed in surprise. It was lucky for her that her brother was nearby to support her. Kira rubbed her chest to ease her sharp breathes, while the Digimon immediately took their stances. In the midst of the incoming danger, Darien's Digivice glowed and Tsunomon instantly advanced to his rookie level of Bearmon.

"What are those sounds?" Mermaidmon asked. Her voice was quivering as the moaning continued.

"They sound horrible!" Bearmon declared, shaking. He immediately ran to hide behind Darien's legs.

Renamon immediately stood in front of the siblings. "Look!" she exclaimed, pointing her right arm towards the ships.

From the insides of the various wreckages, dark indistinct beings came out. They had no definite shapes, only appearing as dark shadows with black, lifeless eyes. In an instance, they resembled the Bakemon, but even the Bakemon looked solid and less eerie. These shadowy beings were transparent, hideous and one sight upon them was enough to make the DigiDestined and Digimon shudder in fear.

"They're ghosts!" Kira exclaimed weakly. Color drained from her face, and she looked as if ready to faint. "Please tell me I'm not seeing things!"

"I'm afraid not, sis," Darien muttered, and pulled his sister close to him. "But don't worry...I'll protect you."

"Oh no!" Bearmon squeaked and clutched Darien's legs hard. He closed his eyes, and Darien couldn't help but to feel sorry for the rookie Digimon. Bearmon was too scared to fight, and Darien wasn't about to force the little mon' to go face the ghosts unless it was completely necessary.

Renamon and Mermaidmon however, were braver. They were scared, but were determined to protect the DigiDestined as well. Bright yellow light flared from Kira's Digivice, coating Renamon with their brilliance. Instantly Renamon underwent a transformation into her bigger, quadruped champion level.

"**Renamon...Digivolve to...Kyubimon!"**

The sight of Digivolution caused the creatures' moaning to intensify. It seemed that they were attracted by the light generated by Kyubimon's Digivolution. Instantly, more and more of them appeared from the wreckage and some began to fly towards the two female Digimon.

"Don't even think about it!" Kyubimon snarled. "Fox Tail Inferno!"

Mermaidmon aimed her giant anchor. "Northern Cross Bomber!"

Streams of fireball and water were blasted towards the shadows, but strangely they had no effect on them. In fact, those attacks simply went through them. The ghosts moaned loudly and surrounded the two attacks. Kyubimon's fireballs evaporated harmlessly upon contact with the sea water, while Mermaidmon's water jet didn't faze them.

The ghosts then attempted to swarm the DigiDestined. Kyubimon saw this and immediately charged towards them with her Dragon Wheel, but the ghosts simply scattered away, avoiding the blue flames. Moaning continuously, they swirled around Kyubimon before going through her over and over again.

Kyubimon froze as she felt a sharp cold sensation filling her body. It was like being pricked by a thousand needles and Kyubimon instantly fell onto the ground near the DigiDestined. She rolled over the sandy ground, trying to no avail to get rid of the painful sensation.

"Oh no! Kyubimon!"

Seeing that her partner was in danger, Kira wanted to do something to help her. Without thinking, she quickly dug in her pockets and took out her Digivice. The device glowed with bright yellow light and it seemed effective to ward off the ghosts momentarily. A beam of yellow light then shot towards Kyubimon, seemingly healing her from the phantom pain she was experiencing.

Kyubimon was about to attack again when suddenly she gasped and closed her eyes. Inside her minds, various recollections of memories not belonging to her flooded her mind. Awestruck, she froze as memory after memory revealed itself within her. Opening her eyes after the memory waves dissipated, Kyubimon knew what to do.

"Mermaidmon, cease your attacks now! It's not what it looks like!"

As several ghosts surrounded her, Mermaidmon looked at Kyubimon incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me! They are the ones who are attacking us! Our attacks have no effect on them." However, to the mermaid's surprise the ghosts ceased to attack her and merely hovered above her. Their eyes however, seemed to be fixed on Kyubimon.

Kyubimon gasped for breath before talking. "Everyone...when those ghosts went through me, I saw...recollections, memories of them. They were once Digimon! They were Digimon that were trapped here until the end of their lives after crossing the Phantom Triangle."

The revelations shocked everyone.

"What in the world?" Darien exclaimed loudly in disbelief. "You mean...them...they were trapped here until..."

"Death," Kyubimon said darkly. "Yes. And that's not all. They have shown me how they died. Believe me; what I saw was extremely terrible... I don't know whether I can ever forget about it."

This caught everyone's attention. The ghosts hovered silently above the DigiDestined and Digimon, no longer attempting to harm them. They were fixing their hollow gazes towards Kyubimon.

"What did you see?" Mermaidmon asked. "What's in your mind that is so horrifying?"

"They didn't just die naturally. You were right, Mermaidmon. Anyone living here long enough would be driven to insanity. I saw how crews mutinied against their captain, killing the captain out of frustration after being trapped here for so long with no glimmer of hope to escape, before they ended up killing each other. I watched how one captain slaughtered all his crew to death before ending up shooting himself. I also saw how at one time, two ships were trapped at once, and the crew of both ships battled each other to death..."

Kyubimon's eyes glistened as she looked towards the spirits again. "...but nothing of that can compare with one last memory I have of them. One ship in particular...was out of food prior its entry to that devil triangle. Although realizing that there was no escape for them, and they'd die out of hunger, they still didn't lose hope. They believed in miracles. They believed that someday at least one of them would escape. So they devised a plan to ensure that at least one of them would survive the dark world, and return to the Digital World once again."

"What did they do?" Darien asked curiously, while Kira remained silent. She was scared.

The ghosts moaned again, their moans sorrowful. Kyubimon sighed.

"They decided that one by one, they would sacrifice themselves. The data of the sacrificed Digimon would be used to feed the others to curb their hunger. However as time went on, their numbers were depleting and there was still no sign of rescue. It was up to the point where the captain was the only one remaining. He tried to stay on for as long as he could. But the feeling of loneliness, sorrow, anger and hunger finally overwhelmed him. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and decided to walk the plank. He met his doom by drowning in the depth of the dark ocean."

Everyone was silent. Nobody dared to move or speak. What Kyubimon had just related to them was beginning to sink in each and every of their minds. There was no way anyone of them could forget such horrible story.

"The spirits of the dead Digimon of the past are the ones that we're seeing now," Mermaidmon realized.

Kyubimon nodded, but her ears pricked up when she saw the hovering ghosts began to advance towards them once again. Their moaning had changed; the sorrowful tune had gone, now replaced by what seemed to be unmistakably tone of pure evil. Even their black eyes seemed malicious.

"What's going on? I thought they are not evil?" Darien shouted. "What do they want from us now?"

One ghost hovered close to Kyubimon and brushed against her slightly before moving away. Kyubimon shuddered upon interpreting what the ghosts had in mind for the five of them.

"The ghosts...they wanted, and still want to...kill us."

"WHAT?" Darien shouted again. "Why?"

"They said...since we are trapped here with no ways of going out...they might as well kill us."

"That's crazy! I won't lose hope! Surely there's a way to escape this place," Kira said, her eyes closed as tears dropped down. "They have NO right to kill us with such a reason. I want to stay alive as long as I can."

"Kira's right! I believe that ALL of us will escape this place. I'll fight for it!" Bearmon declared courageously.

Darien's Digivice instantly flared with bright red lights, prompting Bearmon's Digivolution.

"**Bearmon...Digivolve to...Grizzmon!"**

The large wolf-bear Digimon joined Kyubimon and Mermaidmon in facing the incoming ghosts of the past. Grizzmon snarled and released his Crescent Dawn attack towards the advancing ghosts. The beam however went through them the same way as Kyubimon and Mermaidmon's attacks did. Grizzmon didn't give up and fired his beam again, to no avail.

The ghosts didn't like the sudden turn of event, and their moans turned to snarls. They were no longer sorrowful ghosts; now they were vengeful spirits of the past. More of them suddenly rose from the dark ocean and joined the swarm. Formerly there were less than a dozen of them, now the numbers seemed to have quadrupled. And all of them seemed determined to force the DigiDestined and Digimon to join them in the world of death.

The three Digimon quickly surrounded the siblings to protect them from the ghosts. They gave their all to ward off the vengeful spirits, but the spirits were relentless. They attacked the Digimon by going through their bodies, subjecting the trio to a series of phantom pain. While the pains had no effect on their bodies, they felt real enough to cause psychological injuries onto the Digimon.

Subsequently, more of the vengeful spirits of the past had appeared. With no way of getting rid of them, the DigiDestined and the Digimon found themselves in a perilous situation. Feeling the need to protect the DigiDestined, the Digimon rose again.

Kyubimon stayed back to guard the siblings while Grizzmon and Mermaidmon charged with all their might. However the ghosts merely went through them the same way they did before and inflicted severe phantom injuries onto them. Grizzmon instantly reverted back to Bearmon, while Mermaidmon stumbled onto the ground, screaming in pain. Without the ability to de-digivolve, Mermaidmon suffered more injury than Bearmon.

"Darien...what'd we do now?" Kira asked, trembling. "I don't want to die here...I don't want to be like them."

"Shhhh..." It was all that Darien could say as he consoled his crying sister. He was scared out of his wits as well, but his sister needed to see that he was strong at times like this. He trembled as well as he pulled the girl into a hug. "We'll get through this, I promise. Somehow...I hope."

Kyubimon was filled with overwhelming emotion upon seeing the two siblings. Deep in her heart she promised that she'd do anything to keep the ghosts from harming the DigiDestined. She felt anger as well towards the ghosts...after letting her experience all their horrors, Kyubimon never had thought that their intention was to kill them as well. However with the anger, she was reminded of the intense sorrow she'd felt when the ghosts' memories flowed within her. Was there any hope for them after all?

Perhaps not...it was already too late for them. But there was still hope for her and her friends.

Yes, there was. Kyubimon believed that somehow they'd escape this world unscathed. Until that time came, she'd fight for it.

Miraculously, it was as if Kyubimon's silent prayer was answered when out from the thick, grey clouds, a pillar of bright pink light shot down from the dark sky. The dark world was, for the first time, brightly illuminated by the glowing pillar. The ghosts shrieked and strayed away from the pillar, while the Digimon felt invigorated.

The pillar engulfed Kyubimon wholly, and energized the Yin-Yang symbol on her forehead causing it to spark with the same pink lights. At the same time, Kira's Digivice flared with bright yellow light. The Digivice pulsated as Kyubimon's body and nine tails flared with blue flames. The kitsune then plummeted up inside the pillar towards the heavens. Her body underwent a magical transformation.

"**_Kyubimon...Digivolve to..."_**

An explosion of light ensued, blinding everyone in sight. The spirits howled despairingly and scattered around. It was definitely an unexpected turn of events. And it looked like the tides had turned in favor for the DigiDestined.

Kira and Darien both opened their eyes, and saw against the apparitions of what looked like the moon and the sun...a priestess was there on the air, performing what seemed to be like a spiritual dance. Spinning around as the apparition of the soft moon moved gradually to block the flaring sun, the priestess' movements intensified, yet maintaining her grace and finesse, until the moon enclosed the light of the sun completely. A solar eclipse ensued as she halted and stood straight; a ring of pink light materialized behind her, giving her a magnificent and foreboding grand entry. Then with a strong feminine voice, she declared her name.

"_**...Taomon!"** _

Unlike Kyubimon, Taomon was human-shaped. Her face, while retaining some fox-like attributes, was undeniably human like. Her forehead was adorned with a three violet diamonds symbol while her cheeks were tattooed with three simplistic lines of the same color. Her eyes remained the same; piercing, dark with light blue irises. Her fox ears were erect, pointing upwards.

Taomon was garbed in clothes that would mark her as a prominent Taoist priestess. She wore beige robes with large sleeves and violet baggy pants. Over her pants and robes she wore a white sleeveless robe with gold linings, which flowed until her knee and was adorned with the symbol of the infamous Yin-Yang on the chest and a kanji pattern at the bottom. The white robe was secured on her with use of a simple grayish-purple belt. Her shoulder pads were grayish white, designed with simple Yin-Yang patterns as well, and were patterned to rise vertically, up to the tips of her ears in height. She wore a long black ceremonial hat with purple cloth flowed out from it, covering her head. Finally, her nine tails had reunited into one big bushy tail.

"WOW!" Bearmon squealed, delighted. "She could Digivolve to ultimate on her own!"

"Taomon..." Kira said breathlessly. She was awestruck. "She's... beautiful!"

And so was Darien. "Awesome. Truly awesome!"

Mermaidmon didn't say anything, but she too was profoundly impressed with Taomon's appearance. While she didn't know what exactly Taomon could do, her Digivolution must happen for a reason.

Against the pillar of light, the ghosts didn't dare to approach the ultimate level Digimon. Taomon descended down slowly and cast a fierce look over the ghosts. The ghosts cowered upon meeting her piercing gaze. Taomon chanted slowly and out from her right sleeve came a giant calligraphy paintbrush.

"Your sorrows will end today. Let the light cease your pain."

She aimed the giant paintbrush towards the ghosts. "Talisman of Light!"

A symbol of glowing blue and white kanji materialized in the air, and lights erupted from it. The lights blasted against the ghosts, and to everyone's surprise, actually caused them to cry out as the light deleted their body into nothingness. Taomon took aim with her brush once again towards the remaining ghosts, vanquishing all of them until none remained.

Eyeing the despairing sights of the wrecked vessels, Taomon took one last aim and drew a bigger symbol. The lights engulfed the ships and deleted all of them into bits of data. This was to ensure that no ghosts remained at the dark world to suffer.

"Rest in peace, warriors of the sea," Taomon whispered silently and descended down to the ground. A slight trickle of tear escaped her eyes.

As soon as her feet touched the ground she was greeted by a fierce hug from her human partner.

"Taomon, you were magnificent!" Kira squealed delightfully.

"It is all thanks to you, Kira...and everybody," Taomon said modestly. Her expressions shifted slightly when she took notice of the strange pillar of light behind her. Everyone else thought that the pillar came along with her Digivolution to ultimate level, but Taomon knew better. The pillar's origin was not from her, but its force had energized Taomon greatly. Combined with the effect of the Golden Digicore's wave the night before, it was enough to prompt an independent Digivolution for Taomon instead of depending on another Digimon to DNA Digivolve.

Suddenly a voice came forth from the pillar. "DigiDestined and Digimon...step into the pillar of light!"

Everyone was instantly surprised. Even the calm Taomon blinked upon hearing the voice. Nobody was familiar with the voice, which was feminine, soft and had an echoing, sage-like quality. The DigiDestined didn't know what to make of it, and turned to Taomon.

"What do you think, Taomon? Can we trust it?"

Taomon thought silently about Kira's inquiry. She didn't see any harm of allowing the siblings, Bearmon, Mermaidmon and herself into the pillar. After all, it was responsible for her Digivolution. Taomon didn't see, or sense, any harm to it. Perhaps this was why she'd felt that heading to the beach was the right choice...despite the dangers. They had thwarted the dangers, and now it seemed that they had found a way back to File Island.

"I don't foresee any danger lying ahead," she finally decided.

The priestess' confirmation was all everyone needed to hear. One by one, they entered the pillar, with Taomon being the last one to enter. After their entry, the pillar flashed a bright pink light and vanished, transporting the siblings DigiDestined and the Digimon out from the world of darkness.

* * *

Back at File Island, it was mayhem. Calmaramon, Ebidramon and Mantaraymon had struck the Digimon over the beach with a surprise attack. The three marine Digimon had quickly overpowered the ultimate level Andromon by drowning him with flows of sea water, causing the android to malfunction severely up to the point where he was nearly inoperable.

The Apemon and Gorillamon had put up quite a fight, now stronger in their champion forms. However, even their powers combined couldn't combat with the constant flow of water generated by Calmaramon and her goons. Soon all of them were flung over the ship, crashing onto the beach with the drenched Burgermon couple and locals. The Digimon all got up and the younger and weaker ones ran off, while the stronger ones remained. The Apemon and Gorillamon instantly got up, readying clubs and cannons to fight off their attackers.

Calmaramon laughed loudly. "Take this, pipsqueaks! Titanic Charge!"

She crashed the beach with strong waves, drenching the inexperienced champions altogether. The Bane Buccaneer crew wasn't even given a chance to fight back as they were flung by the waves towards the trees.

"What do you want?" Apemon cried out. "Who are you? Why are you attacking us?"

"Simple. We're bad guys. We attack good guys!" Ebidramon said, and cackled. "Twin Neptune!"

Forming two water tornadoes with his pincers, Ebidramon then launched them towards the drenched Apemon and Gorillamon. Four of them were trapped inside the tornadoes, and Ebidramon took his time to play around. Suddenly, the trapped Digimon were blasted with a streak of electricity coming from the Digimon beside Ebidramon. The Apemon and Gorillamon were electrocuted and Ebidramon lost control of his tornadoes, dropping the now-unconscious sapiens down.

The lobster scowled as he turned to face Mantaraymon. "Aww...Mantaraymon, you took out all the fun!"

"You took so long! I'm just making your job a lot easier!"

"Well I don't NEED your help!" Ebidramon proved his point by blowing raspberries towards his comrade.

Mantaraymon just sweatdropped upon the immature action and decided to leave Ebidramon to his own devices.

In the meantime, Calmaramon surrounded the Burgermon couple and some of the crew with tornadoes of her own. She raised the tornadoes high and slammed them towards the Bane Buccaneer, threatening to wreck the beautiful vessel. The Burgermon couple, defenseless, couldn't do anything else but to plead Calmaramon to spare their lives. Calmaramon laughed their pleadings off with a flick of her hands.

"You shall be spared when the DigiDestined arrive! I have a settle to score with them!"

"Then let them go!" An unfamiliar voice to Calmaramon shouted. She turned sideways and grinned.

"Ahh, it's so nice of you to finally join us...DigiDestined."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Well, yet another quick update. I know most of you wanted me to get on straight-away with the next arc, so I'm increasing production here and have delivered two chapters within a week! Did any of you see Taomon coming?

**_Yami Vizzini_** – Well, I didn't want to make the incantations hard. Originally I had in mind to make the inscriptions in other language, such as Sanskrit. But lack of time and resources made me change it to anagrams. This chapter holds one of the key plots (Taomon) but in the original plans I actually wanted to make Dragomon drag along Darien, Kira and Renamon along with him when MegaSeadramon trapped him inside the World of Darkness. But in my opinion it would distract the attention to the final key of events in that chapter, ie: MegaSeadramon's sacrifice. So like I've said before, I've unearthed back one of the discarded subplots and write it in as this chapter mostly, and the previous and next chapters slightly. In whole, the subplots cover Taomon's appearance, a slightly expanded history of the Dark World and the journey to the continent of Server.

**_DTV_** – Well, there you go. The answers to your question are in this chapter. Dragomon and his servants will always remain a mystery from now on...bringing him back will only render MegaSeadramon's sacrifice useless. And, uh...too descriptive:D I thought it's supposed to be a good thing. Anyway, about the movies, yeah I've heard about it as well from the Digimon Encyclopedia website. Actually I have seen the rest of the movies (except for Frontier's and X-Evolutions, which have yet to be released in my homeland) dubbed in Cantonese (or Mandarin, I'm not sure) and Malaysian language.

And thanks as well to **_Dark Qiviut, Midnight Silverwings_** and **_Roby Murphy_** for the reviews.


	29. The Call to Server

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 29 – The Call to Server _**-

"Ahh…it's so nice for you to finally join us, DigiDestined."

Calmaramon had said that the nicest way she could, but with every syllable hinted with venom. Her slant eyes took in the DigiDestined and their Digimon. Her confidence however washed away instantly as soon as she took in the Digimon that had appeared before her. She didn't exactly mind the stout blue dragon, whom she was sure was a land-based Digimon. Her concern was on the tough, fire-based warrior floating above the dragon. Now, he could pose a problem for her.

Ardhamon flapped his wings to let some flickers of flames escape. "What's with the face? Scared?"

Calmaramon scoffed. "A fire Digimon, eh? Why, you don't even faze me at all!"

Ardhamon smirked. "Sure you are. I saw your face."

"Well, let's see if this will wipe that smirk of your face! Titanic Charge!"

Calmaramon summoned strong tidal waves from the seawater and showered the waves onto Aldamon. Instantly, the flames emanating from his wings were drenched. This made him lost his ability to fly, and Ardhamon would have crash-landed onto the ground should Veedramon didn't catch him in time.

"Oh, no!" Jon and Kanto both cried out at the same time. "Ardhamon!"

Ardhamon groaned and stood on the ground as soon as Veedramon set him on the ground. He stared at the sea witch with his amber eyes, and to Calmaramon's surprise, the warrior of fire smirked once again as a glowing yellow aura began to form on his body. The water on his body soon turned to vapors and his wings were lit with flames once again. Ardhamon soared towards the sky and thrust both arms towards the sky.

"Nice try, but can you match this? Solar Wind Destroyer!"

Ardhamon released a gigantic fireball which slammed Calmaramon and her henchmen altogether. The fireball scorched their bodies badly as they tried to seek refuge by surfing down underwater. The water vaporized the Solar Wind Destroyer attack, but the damage had been done. Calmaramon, Ebidramon and Mantaraymon, when they emerged, all sported burnt marks on their bodies.

"Now that's what I call a sight for sore eyes!" Kanto quipped.

"I wonder whether Ardhamon's attack has cooked them enough. I sure am hungry!" Veedramon said, rubbing his stomach.

"I don't think that eating her is such a good idea…you might kill yourself," Ardhamon remarked with a smirk.

Calmaramon was enraged to hear the insults. Fuming, she formed a tornado of water around her. "How dare you insult me! Don't you realize who you are talking too? I am Calmaramon, mistress of the sea! I am NOT a witch, nor am I a common squid! Those who dare speak of those names in my presence shall pay dearly for their insolence. Ebidramon, Mantaraymon, use your joint attack and finish off fire boy! I shall take care of that blue bloated blob."

"At once, mistress!"

"Bring it on!" Ardhamon shouted, and flew off to face Ebidramon and Mantaraymon.

"HEY! Who were you calling a blue bloated blob!" Veedramon roared angrily.

Calmaramon drew herself nearer to the DigiDestined and Veedramon. Aided by the moonlight the DigiDestined could make out Calmaramon's hideous features more clearly, and could not hide their disgust. The way she crawled closer to them, the slopping sound that her tentacles produced and the slimy remains that her tentacles left as trail…they were repulsive. However soon their revulsion turned to embarrassment, as Calmaramon's features still bore remarkable semblance to… a naked woman whose body was painted. Each boy was blushing furiously and had to turn away.

"What's the matter now? Don't like what you see?" Calmaramon taunted.

"Veedramon, make this quick," Max ordered. "And yes, I certainly DON'T like what I see."

"Wait," Jon said. He was covering his eyes with his right palm. "Shouldn't we ask what her motive is?"

"How about…to destroy us?" Kanto said incredulously. "Seeing how much damage she'd done to the crews, I certainly think that her motive, whatever it is, isn't good."

"I shall tell you anyway!" Calmaramon stopped inching her way to the DigiDestined. "I am here to seek revenge for my Lord Dragomon! You are the ones who trapped him inside the Dark World. And guess what? You have just lost me my love!"

The three DigiDestined and Veedramon couldn't believe what they had just heard, and face-faulted.

"You have GOT to be joking!" Max said loudly. "You and Dragomon?"

"We're match made in the digital heavens!" Calmaramon retorted.

"Well, to be fair, I CAN actually see that they are a great match," Jon said slowly, eyes still buried inside his palm.

Max looked at the young blonde in disbelief. "Now YOU have got to be joking!"

"You mean like one of them a giant octopus and the other's a stinking squid?" Kanto asked Jon.

"SQUID!" Calmaramon shrieked angrily. "I am NOT a squid! I am an elegant calamari, not just a stinking squid!"

Jon glared at Kanto. "Yeah, that was what I thought, though I was going to put that in a more subtle way."

The taller boy merely shrugged in response. "Yeah, well…what's the difference?"

Calmaramon fumed. "Enough! I will not stand this! Titanic Charge!"

"Oh no, you don't! V-Arrow Breath!"

Veedramon quickly intercepted Calmaramon's attack. His white arrow attack pierced through Calmaramon's torrents of water jet, reducing the force of the attack considerably. Max, Jon and Kanto were splashed with harmless rains of water, and were merely drenched. No harm came to them, but Calmaramon's attempt to hurt the DigiDestined angered Veedramon. The dragon champion stomped towards Calmaramon, knuckles shining with blue aura. He delivered a powerful punch onto Calmaramon's torso, knocking the wind out of her and throwing her back into the sea.

"AIIIIEEEEEEEIIEIEIEIEIIEI!"

"That's the last time you try to hurt my friends! V-Nova Blast!"

Seeing the incoming attack, Calmaramon quickly fired several streams of water to nullify the attack. The water streams successfully vaporized the V-Nova Blast, but Calmaramon was aching all over her body due to Veedramon's violent assault on her. She attempted to attack again, but then sensed two incoming figures from the sky. She dived into the sea, and was knocked down further to the sandy base by the combined weights of the defeated Ebidramon and Mantaraymon.

"One lobster and one manta ray, deep fried and ready to be eaten!" Ardhamon declared.

"Hey, Ardhamon! There's a squid over there that needs cooking as well!" Veedramon called out.

"Consider it done!"

However before Ardhamon could attack even further, he was distracted by a blinding light that pierced through the dark clouds of the night. From the clouds, a pink pillar of light shot down straight onto the beaches of File Island. Ardhamon and Veedramon braced themselves, thinking that it might be another evil Digimon coming to attack them. An unfamiliar Digimon flew out from the pillar, and Veedramon was about to fire his attack towards the new intruder when Ardhamon stopped him.

"Wait, Veedramon. Don't you think that there's something familiar about that Digimon?"

Veedramon looked at the new Digimon. "Now that you've mentioned it…"

"Veedramon, Ardhamon, it's me!" The Digimon's voice was feminine, and very familiar.

"RENAMON!"

The Digimon landed gracefully in front of them. "Well, you got that almost right. I'm Taomon now."

"What happened to you?" Ardhamon asked.

"Is it not obvious? I Digivolved. It is a long story."

Ardhamon was skeptical. "Really? With who did you DNA Digivolve with? There are only five of us."

Upon hearing that question, Taomon had to suppress her smile. "Nobody. I'm all me."

More figures walked out from the pillar of light as Max, Jon and Kanto approached Taomon. They were about to ask about the whereabouts of Darien and Kira when out of the pillar they appeared, along with Bearmon and Mermaidmon. All of them looked tired judging from their somber expressions.

"Darien! Kira! We're so glad that you two are here!" Jon exclaimed. "Where were you?"

Darien and Kira exchanged dark looks, and the elder of the Kanemuchi siblings answered, "Let's just say that we've seen better places. Where we were, you really don't want to go there. And we'd rather save all the questions for later…we're dead tired now and all we could think of are a good night sleep."

It was until Max, Jon and Kanto looked at the siblings closer that they noticed that both of them demonstrated signs that said that they had been in a fight. They then decided not to say anything else for the time being. Darien seldom sounded that solemn, and the others knew that when he did, he had meant it. In their minds however they did get a basic idea. Somehow the two DigiDestined and the Digimon must have been in a particularly life-threatening fight. Their situation must be really precarious, that Renamon ended up Digivolving to ultimate level on her own to protect them.

"What's going on here anyway?" Kira asked.

Max noted that unlike Darien, Kira didn't lose her edge. Somehow there was still the perkiness that defined her. He relaxed. "Melodramatic trouble apparently. There's a Digimon gone ballistic, saying that we're responsible for her to lose her love."

Kira arched an eyebrow, confused. "I don't even know if I heard you right."

"You heard him right, unfortunately," Kanto said. "There's a squid witch called Calmaramon who claims that she's Dragomon's girlfriend or something. She's here to exact vengeance to us for being responsible in Dragomon's imprisonment."

"If she's desperate to see Dragomon, I think that could be arranged," Darien muttered.

"Darien…" Kira sighed.

"Come again?" Max asked. "What did you just say?"

Darien groaned. "Look. We were from the Dark World, ok? I summoned a gateway to go there by reading a stupid anagram from Hookmon's journal."

"Which is purely accidental," Kira pointed out hastily. "Just be glad that everything turned out ok, alright?"

"Oh…" the three DigiDestined were speechless.

"Did you meet Dragomon there?" Kanto asked.

Kira shook her head. "Fortunately, no. We met these strange ghosts that were actually pirates from the past, which were trapped in that dimension for many, many long years. You should really read Hookmon's journal, minus the incantation…"

"We've read that book, but there was no incantation," Jon said confusedly.

Kira smiled grimly. "Well, just be glad that you have a much more pleasant night than I did, although I think Taomon pretty much makes up for it by…appearing."

Throughout these conversations, Mermaidmon had listened intently. Her attentions perked when Kanto mentioned Calmaramon appearing.

"Did you say 'Calmaramon'? That horrible sea-witch is here? On this island?"

"Yes," Jon answered. "And she's been rampaging about, trashing the Bane Buccaneer until we arrived, lamenting about how she and Dragomon were meant to be."

Mermaidmon laughed scornfully. "So it's Dragomon now? She hasn't changed. And I doubt Dragomon has ever heard of her, or ever will."

"You know Calmaramon?" Kanto asked.

"Well, sort of. I've had a few run-ins with her back when I was in my champion form. That was before I encountered Huanlongmon. Calmaramon hated me, apparently, for a very silly reason. You see… she was jealous of my, err…how shall I put it humbly…my _looks_. When I was Ranamon, I've had some admirers. One of them in particular, was a rather handsome Armor Digimon called Depthmon. And unfortunately, Calmaramon liked him as well, and Depthmon, well…he just didn't look at Calmaramon the same way as she did."

"So she went ballistic," Kira concluded.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Jon said.

"Say what?" Kanto frowned.

Kira laughed. "Jon has quoted an English proverb, meaning no one is angrier than a woman who's rejected by her love. Bear THAT in mind."

"And what's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Oh, never mind!"

Mermaidmon grinned. "Jon has said it best, but that's old history now. However, I guess it's quite the same reason why Calmaramon's after you guys now."

"What a lame reason," Kanto huffed.

Mermaidmon looked around. "So where is she?"

As if on cue, Calmaramon and her henchmen splashed out of the sea, drawing the attentions of all the good guys. Obviously the three of them had seen better days. Some parts of their bodies were burnt black. Calmaramon's violet hair was burnt almost all the way up to her scalp. Her bald look was hilarious.

Mermaidmon smiled upon setting eyes with Calmaramon. "Hello, Calmaramon. Remember me?"

Calmaramon looked at the tall, lithe womanly Digimon and frowned. "No. I haven't had the displeasure of meeting you."

"Sure you have. I was Ranamon…the one you harassed some time ago because a certain Depthmon took a liking on me."

Upon the revelation, Calmaramon looked at Mermaidmon closer. Though she didn't see any semblances, she recognized Mermaidmon's voice, and grinned evilly. "Yes…yes…and wow, get a load of you. You look so sickeningly pretty now…I hardly recognized you."

Mermaidmon snorted. "Coming from you, I take that as a compliment. I've heard that…"

Calmaramon raised her hand to stop Mermaidmon from talking any further. "Would you like to know what happened to those stupid admirers of yours while you were gone?"

"Huh?" Mermaidmon didn't expect to hear that one coming.

"You were gone so long…I was beginning to wonder where you were. I asked your admirers and got no response. I asked Depthmon, who SHOULD have known of your whereabouts, but he was not cooperative. He even turned away without even looking at me, as if disgusted by the way I look. I thought he was trying to shield you from me so that you won't be harassed by me anymore, and frankly I was insulted by his behavior…" Calmaramon's expression turned uglier all of a sudden. "…so I killed him."

Blood drained from Mermaidmon's face when she heard Calmaramon's cold revelation. What shocked her more was the nonchalant way she had said it. "What! No…"

"Yes, I killed him. Then I deleted the others as well…except for two rookies. Those Betamon were too afraid of me that they readily agreed to be my servants."

"That must be Ebidramon and Mantaraymon!" Veedramon said.

"Precisely. And to make sure they are loyal, I've cast some spell to make them forget anything prior to them joining me. And now…they have failed me for the last time."

Calmaramon raised both hands up and let out a shrill laugh. The calm sea slowly became rippled with bubbles; it seemed like the sea was boiling. Strange lights emitted from underwater, giving the dark sea a pale violet color. The light gave Calmaramon an eerie look, as her eyes shone viciously with amber hue. Calmaramon then twisted both her arms sharply, and out from the water the unconscious forms of Ebidramon and Mantaraymon floated out.

"I now have one last use of the two of you, my servants…"

"I don't like the sound of this," Jon said worriedly. "Those words really are giving me a deja-vu."

Ardhamon groaned. "How unoriginal. We've seen Boogeymon do this sort of thing. She's going to take those two Digimon's data to add into her own."

"Not if I can help it," Mermaidmon said vehemently. She stomped towards the waters and raised her golden anchor with one hand. For a brief moment she glanced behind and locked eyes with Taomon before turning back to face Calmaramon. "I've always thought that you were harmless, Calmaramon. Never have I thought that you are able to kill, and to talk about it later as if it was not much of a big deal."

Though nothing was spoken towards her, Taomon understood what Mermaidmon had wanted to do, and quietly moved towards the shadows.

Calmaramon merely sneered, not noticing anything. "So, you've thought WRONG! I am capable of killing, brainwashing, manipulating, ANYTHING! I'm going to finish off ALL of you for trapping Lord Dragomon inside that Dark World! And as for you, pretty little mermaid, I shall have the pleasure of keeping you alone alive…for torturing purposes, of course. "

"I will not let that happen. Taomon, NOW!"

A brief swooshing sound was heard from out of nowhere, and when Calmaramon turned back to look for the sound she saw that both Ebidramon and Mantaraymon were contained inside some kind of bubble. Calmaramon tried firing a few jets of water towards the bubble to pop it, but strangely the water was deflected back. She then tried poking the bubble, but apparently the bubble was actually an impenetrable barrier. This enraged Calmaramon; her plan of having Ebidramon and Mantaraymon's powers was foiled.

"Your days are over, Calmaramon! But I will not destroy you. In fact…" Mermaidmon lowered her anchor solemnly. "…I shall grant you your wish. You will see your so-called love. _A wateyag ot lehl; a lowdr dioy fo thgil nad donsegos…"_

Darien's eyes shot out wide, breaking him from his sorrow mood. "The incantations! Mermaidmon, NO!"

Strange ripples began to form beneath Calmaramon, which surprised her. "What are you doing?"

Mermaidmon ignored Calmaramon; a fixed look of determination was evident on her face. "…_A lowdr fo karnsdens, I monmus oyu…"_

"Has she lost her mind?" Kira exclaimed. "She could be sucked in as well! WE could be all sucked inside the Dark World if somebody doesn't stop her from finishing the incantation!"

Taomon inched closer towards Kira. "Do not worry. Nobody but Calmaramon shall fall prey to the Dark World."

"…_eht wateyag, etl ti eb DONEPE!" _

Taomon immediately struck a meditative pose, raising one paw in front of her face while the other was spread out. "Talisman Spell!"

Instantly, as thunder roared across the dark heavens a whirlpool began to form beneath Calmaramon. At the same time, the DigiDestined and their partners, Mermaidmon, and the unconscious Ebidramon and Mantaraymon, were pulled inside a rather massive dome-shaped barrier bearing a symbol of yin and yang as its floor. Winds blew fiercely from the clouds and struck wildly against Taomon's barrier, but the sturdy barrier didn't budge.

Calmaramon panicked, sensing a strong pulling force coming from the whirlpool beneath her, despite the fact that she was close to the shores. Black energy shone from the whirlpool and enveloped Calmaramon wholly before pulling her in. a last thing all of them heard were Calmaramon's hollow scream piercing the silence of the night before everything was restored back to order. The winds were gone and the clouds slowly gave way to the beautiful, almost-full silver moon that shone brightly across the cosmos.

After waiting for a minute, Taomon finally lowered her barrier.

"What were you thinking!" Darien roared at Mermaidmon. "Haven't you learned any lesson from our trip to the Dark World?"

Mermaidmon was silence, her face hung down in shame. "I'm sorry. I…I really don't know what possessed me back then."

Taomon walked towards Mermaidmon, and put one paw/hand on Mermaidmon's shoulder. "I do. Becoming Taomon somehow has made me more empathic to others' feeling. Back then, I sensed a strong feeling of suppressed anger coming from you, and the desire to hand out judgment to what Calmaramon did to your…admirers."

Mermaidmon nodded slowly. "I was so angry…I'd wanted to punish Calmaramon with the worst punishment possible."

"Hence the Dark World," Ardhamon said. "Though don't you think that it's a little bit too extreme? Calmaramon's evil, I give you that…but she's no Dragomon, or Boogeymon."

Veedramon snorted. "Are you kidding? Look at what she'd done to Mermaidmon's friends. She had killed, brainwashed, attacked, and she had said that she was capable in doing lots more. If you ask me I think she'd got her just desserts." And as if on cue, Veedramon's stomach growled, much to his embarrassment as he reverted back to ToyAgumon.

Everyone laughed. "If you ask me, I think we all have a pretty long night," Ardhamon said, de-Digivolving back to his composite selves of Kapurimon and DemiDevimon.

"Hey look…something's going on with those two," Bearmon called out everyone's attention to Calmaramon's former henchmen.

Green glows suddenly emanated from where Mantaraymon and Ebidramon were lying. The two of them grew smaller until they became an identical pair of Digimon, with the exception of their different shades of green. Both of them were Betamon, but while Ebidramon had reverted to the standard Betamon form Mantaraymon had became a ModokiBetamon. The two of them woke up and looked around them confusedly.

"Oh boy…what happened?" Betamon groaned.

"I feel like I've been hit by a Whamon," ModokiBetamon said weakly, slumping back on the sandy beach. "I've got such a headache."

"The Betamon brothers," Mermaidmon said, not within the Betamon brothers' hearing reach, apparently recognizing them. "And it looks like they remembered nothing of their unfortunate ordeals with Calmaramon."

Betamon and ModokiBetamon got up from the sands and had a look around. They were startled upon seeing the DigiDestined, not recognizing them, or even knowing them as humans. They stared at Mermaidmon momentarily but decided that they didn't recognize her, though they stated that something was very familiar about her. Slightly intimidated by Taomon's visage, they steered away from the ultimate-level priestess. And finally, sensing the cold of the night, they excused themselves to find some warmer place to call it a night.

"And how about that?" Mermaidmon murmured as she watched them disappearing in the shadows cast by the thick forest. "Maybe it's better that they don't remember at all. They can start a new life here on this island." A soft glow of yellow and pink attracted her attention sideways and out of her thought, just in time to watch Taomon reverting back to Renamon.

"So what happens now?" Kira wondered thoughtfully. "We've beaten Boogeymon, or Phelesmon…and Dragomon is gone. So what happens now?"

"I never thought that I'd hate to say this, but maybe we've done our duties here," Kanto mused.

"Huh? Does that mean you're going back home?" DemiDevimon asked sadly.

"I'm afraid that is not true," a feminine, echoic, ethereal-like voice answered DemiDevimon's question before Kanto could. The voice was soft and gentle, and upon hearing it Kira, Darien, Renamon, Bearmon and Mermaidmon all had a look of recognition imprinted on their faces. It was the same voice that had beckoned them to enter the pillar of light back in the Dark World. That act had saved them from eternal doom inside the world of darkness and had brought them back to the Digital World.

"It is you," Renamon said knowingly. "Who are you, exactly?"

As the feminine voice replied to Renamon, the pink pillar of light pulsated in accordance to its voice tone. "Don't worry. I am your ally. I am known as the Vanguard of Light. And I appear before you now to say that the evils of the Legion of Darkness are transpiring at the continent of Server as we speak. We need your help." While the voice was calm and demure, there was no mistaking the sense of urgency that came along with it as well.

"The continent of Server?" Max wondered. "Where exactly is it?"

"The continent of Server is the largest of five major continents of the Digital World," Mermaidmon informed. "I am from Server myself."

"What kind of evils is transpiring at Server now?" Darien spoke up. "And who's _we_?"

The voice became more rushed now. "There is no time to explain it now. We shall speak when you have arrived here on the safety of my Castle Eos. I shall have my apprentices waiting for you at the village of Shadow Cove. But be forewarned, grave dangers are lying there in the murky shadows of the night. Be wary of the full moon as it is the time when the evil around here reaches its peak. Travel by day and you shall be safe. I look forward to our meeting, brave DigiDestined."

With that spoken, the pillar of light vanished in the blink of the eye, carrying away the mysterious voice that had talked to the DigiDestined.

"Well how about that?" Kira mused. "That was definitely weird."

"Do you know about this Vanguard of Light, Mermaidmon?" Max asked.

"No. I can't say that I have heard of her before. But I believe we can trust her. Without her assistance we couldn't have made it out from the Dark World."

"Nor could I Digivolve to Taomon," Renamon added thoughtfully.

"Perhaps this is our next mission, our duty," Kanto said enthusiastically. "I say we go for it."

"I concur," Jon said.

"Ditto," Kira seconded.

"By the way she said it, it sounds like home is _so_ far away now," Darien muttered. He then caught Bearmon's eyes and backtracked. "Of course, not that it is bad… I'm in, too."

"YAAY!" Bearmon, ToyAgumon, Kapurimon and DemiDevimon chorused together.

"Yaay indeed," Max said with a faint smile. Personally he too was glad that they didn't have to leave the Digital World just yet. "Ok, then it settles. We're going. But anyone knows how we're going to get there?"

"I don't mind anything except Whamon," Kira said quickly. "I really don't want to smell like fishes anymore."

Mermaidmon cast a look at the brightly-lit Bane Buccaneer and grinned. "How about we _fly_ our way there?"

* * *

**Author's Note**

This chapter wraps up the DigiDestined adventures at File Island. I'm not really satisfied with the end result that is this chapter, but at the same time I can't find anything else to put in. It's been long since the last update, and you can say that I'm rather anxious to see it updated. The third arc will be up after this chapter, but I'm thinking of adding two chapters to Vengeance first before updating Legends again, as I want to finish Vengeance by spring next year, hopefully.

I regret to say that I can't reply to your reviews personally for now as there are rumors saying that FFnet isn't allowing that anymore. Anyone who can point otherwise, please do so. In the meantime, you're all welcomed to e-mail me with any inquiries.

To **_Dark Qiviut, Roby Murphy, Midnight Silverwings, Yami Vizzini, Julian Walker, Bluesv20, DarkFictionWizard, Shadow and Jack the ripper, _**thanks for your reviews.


	30. Bad Moonlight

**Previously on Legends of the DigiDestined: **The DigiDestined have been in the Digital World for nearly a month. They have beaten the first Legion - Boogeymon after Wizardmon joins the team, but Boogeymon returns as Phelesmon, his Ultimate form. Omnimon arrives after ten years of hiding, sacrificing his weakening power to make Veedramon and Grizzmon DNA Digivolve into the powerful Cyberdramon. Cyberdramon defeats Phelesmon, but the Legion has the last say when he destroys the whole island in his dying breath!

An encounter with the pirate Hookmon enables the DigiDestined to set sail for File Island. In the middle of their journey they are joined by Mermaidmon, who gets them out of some tricky situation involving Dragomon's minions Niximon. They arrive on File Island, and Dragomon decides to attack. He proves to be unbeatable until the Golden DigiCore releases a wave of energizing gold light, Digivolving many Digimon on File Island in the process. It also proves instrumental in DNA Digivolving Dinohumon and Grizzmon into fire warrior Ardhamon. After a long battle, a sacrifice from MegaSeadramon, Hookmon's Ultimate form, traps Dragomon inside the Dark World for good.

Darien and Kira then encounter a journal belonging to Hookmon, and after reading an incantation inside, they alongside their partners and Mermaidmon are transported to the Dark World. They encounter the spirits of unrest nautical Digimon who have been brought to the Dark World long ago. In the meantime, the others meet up with Calmaramon who is bitter with the DigiDestined for trapping Dragomon inside the Dark World. In the Dark World, when the situation looks bleak for Darien and Kira, the Vanguard of Light comes to help, Digivolving Kyubimon into Taomon to rid the dark ghosts of the world, and help them return to the Digital World. The DigiDestined discover that Mermaidmon and Calmaramon have a previous spat between each other, and after exposing her evil deeds, Calmaramon receives her wish of being with Dragomon when Mermaidmon traps her inside the Dark World. After Calmaramon's defeat the vanguard relays a desperate message for the DigiDestined to come to the continent of Server, as they are needed to fight more Legions there.

…..

* * *

The sky was clear that day, cloudless with cool breeze coming from the sea below. Schools of Dolphmon were seen swimming merrily against the calm turquoise sea, and in the air a flock of avian Digimon flew without a care, spreading their wings wide and let the cool winds guide them. The sun was shining brightly, reflecting its brilliant shine against the waters. The day was neither too hot nor too cold; perfect was how it could be described.

Hovering just above the surface of the sea, the inscrutable figure cloaked in rich night blue garb watched as a grandiose black vessel streaked across the sky. His eyes, hidden beneath the shadows cast by his hood, twinkled as he continued eyeing the flying vessel until it was merely the size of a molecular data. He then let out a hushed laughter.

"Server awaits you, DigiDestined. And I too, shall be waiting."

Black and blue glow emanated from the cloaked figure's body before he vanished, leaving merely faint hints of smokes as a sign of his presence. The winds then blew the smokes away, wiping away the small traces of the mysterious figure.

Meanwhile, the DigiDestined were now currently onboard the newly-modified Bane Buccaneer, which Mermaidmon had dubbed as the Bane Buccaneer Mark 2. The new captain had Andromon and her crews equip the ship with solar-powered sails, programmed from data of flying and machine Digimon to give them the ability to fly. The mechanism behind the solar sails' ability to make any ship fly was complex, but it could be explained simply by the fact suggested by its name itself. The solar sails had the ability to absorb solar powers from the sun, and store them throughout the special durable material which the solar sails were made of. The solar powers would then charge the data that were stored inside the sails, enabling the ship to have the ability to fly whenever the solar sails were charged.

They set sail to the continent of Server after receiving the enigmatic message from the Vanguard of Light. While the weather permitted the ship to course the sea the usual way, Mermaidmon wanted to test out the ship's new sails. Besides, the ship moved twice as fast when it was flying which would enable the DigiDestined to reach the continent in a mere matter of a day. The message from the vanguard had the tone of urgency, coupled with desperate plea, that the DigiDestined themselves could not bear to waste anymore time.

Right now, however, all the DigiDestined were lounging around the banister of the ship, enjoying the beautiful sight as the ship flew across the sky. Mermaidmon was navigating the ship, while some of the Gorillamon and Apemon were seen cleaning around the ship, one of them was clinging on the pole with a telescope. From the door leading towards the lower decks, EbiBurgermon and ChibiBurgermon came with trays of burgers and milkshakes for the DigiDestined and partners. As they were enjoying their lunch, Mermaidmon signaled for one of her crew to take over the navigation wheel, as she had decided to join the DigiDestined.

She took a seat on the floor of the upper deck, beside Darien and Bearmon. "DigiDestined, I have something that I think you should know."

Darien looked up from his half-eaten burger, towards Mermaidmon. "Why the glum tone, Mermaidmon?"

"Let's hear about it," Max said, putting down his own lunch on the tray.

Mermaidmon looked intently at each DigiDestined. What she said next shocked the DigiDestined, and made them lose their appetite and excitement of the chance to explore a new continent.

"After we arrive at Server, it will be time for us to part ways."

* * *

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 30 – Bad Moonlight_**

…..

…..

"So, I guess we're on our own for now," Max said, as he watched the Bane Buccaneer sailed away in the midst of the night.

"Yeah," Darien said. "It's too bad that Mermaidmon couldn't follow us anymore."

While on the journey to Server, Mermaidmon had regretfully informed the DigiDestined that it was time for them to part ways. She could no longer accompany them as she had another obligation, as the new captain of the Bane Buccaneer. And besides, after the battle with Calmaramon, Mermaidmon felt compelled to revisit her home, somewhere on the other side of Server, and to return Betamon and ModokiBetamon to their home. However, remembering the titanic battle between Huanlongmon and the three higher-ups of the Legion of Darkness, Mermaidmon had also promised that she would ask around for news of Leviamon, a Legion who was said to have set up a base somewhere in the deepest ocean of the Digital World. She would keep an eye on Leviamon's forces and influence, gathering information for the DigiDestined so that when it was time for them to face the second-in-rank Legion, they would be prepared. Reluctantly, the DigiDestined bade Mermaidmon farewell, hoping that one day they would meet again.

"I'm really going to miss her," Kira said slowly. "She's helped us a lot. Without her, we might already perished back at Poseidon Gate."

"Me too," Darien murmured. "But perhaps it's for the best. She did say that she's gonna gather some information about other Legions to make our task easier, remember?"

"True," Jon commented. He looked up towards the night sky, staring at the silver moon, which was nearing full. The lower right side of the moon was obscured by dark shadows, but the rest of it was there, glimmering brilliantly in the midst of the sky. Yet, strangely the sky was cloudy. There was not a single star visible. "It looks like it's going to be a full moon later this night."

"Which makes it perfect for us to continue look for…what's-its-name castle?" Kanto asked, forgetting the name of their destination.

"Castle Eos," Kira reminded him, and frowned. "But I don't think that it's a good idea to go look for the castle now. Remember the vanguard's message yesterday?"

"Beware the full moon," Renamon said, looking at the moonlight. "I don't understand. What could be so dangerous about the full moon? I think the full moon is absolutely beautiful."

Kira smiled. "Me too, but the vanguard had told us to only travel by day in order to stay safe. She said, and I quote, _Grave dangers are lying there in the murky shadows of the night. Be wary of the full moon as it is time when the evil around here reaches its peak._"

"Kira's right, but the beach is no place for us to spend the night," Max decided. "We need to find a place to crash in for the night."

"I remember the vanguard saying that she'd have her apprentices waiting for us at a village called Shadow Cove," Jon reminded them.

"But we don't know where Shadow Cove is," Kanto pointed out.

"We don't," Jon said. "But I think it must be nearby. It must be somewhere near a cove, as suggested by the name."

"I don't like the sounds of Shadow Cove. Of all the names it could have, why 'Shadow'?" DemiDevimon quipped darkly. "It just sounds too gloomy and dark."

"Maybe you're right," Max said. "_But_ maybe it's just a coincidence too. The name might not be significant."

"Yeah, take File Island for example. I don't remember seeing lots of _files_ there," Darien said jokingly. Everyone laughed.

So, they began looking for Shadow Cove village. After searching for any signs briefly, they found a trek which led them inside a small swamp. Crossing the swamp they reached a rather thick forest with its canopies blocking the moonlight from reaching the grounds. They could even barely see each other, walking further inside the forest would be impossible. Renamon then Digivolved into Kyubimon, and lit up her nine tails with blue fires to provide light for them to continue their journey.

Half-an-hour passed in complete silence before Darien decided to lighten up the mood. "Hey, do any of you guys know what happen in the full moon?" There was a dark, tantalizing tone in his voice that sparked curiosity from the Digimon. Kyubimon slowed down, and the others moved closer to Darien.

"I think I've heard this story before," Jon remarked.

Darien placed an index finger in front of his lips. "So hush, I'm telling the story now."

"What happens in the full moon, Darien?" ToyAgumon asked excitedly. "Is it something good?"

Darien's expression turned grim. He adopted the spookiest tone he could muster. "The dark forces of evil…arise, in the belly of the earth!"

Suddenly, somebody stepped on a dry twig, which cracked loudly in the middle of the quiet night. The crack caused the fires on Kyubimon's tails to flicker brighter than usual, signaling her surprise. Everyone stopped walking and turned to look at a sheepish-looking Kira.

"Oops."

Everyone relaxed instantly, but decided that a brief break was due. They decided to sit on the stones and the protruded tree roots near the pathway they were taking.

"Okay…then?" Kotemon asked eagerly, settling down beside Jon, who merely looked mildly interested.

"It takes the form…of both man, and _beast_!" Darien paused for a dramatic effect, looking at each Digimon's expressions. He remained standing, and Kyubimon's fires in the background gave him an aura of a mysterious storyteller, who was entertaining a bunch of children with a ghost story.

"What kind of beast?" DemiDevimon asked slowly. "I don't think I like the sound of it." Looking at Darien, he asked again, "What kind of beast?"

"A wolf-beast," Darien answered darkly. Bearmon whimpered slightly, while ToyAgumon, Kotemon and DemiDevimon looked at him with fearful expressions. Kyubimon, Darien noted with a slight disappointment, was placid. Her eyes reflected her curiosity, but she didn't display any reaction to his words. Taking a deep breath, Darien continued with a louder voice, "With jagged fangs… and razor-sharp claws, and yellow eyes that can see right through you! He howls in the night, like this…" Darien then flexed his head back and let out a loud, wolf-like howl. "ARROOOOOO!"

Immediately, all the Digimon, with the exception of Kyubimon, yelped in surprise. Bearmon and Kotemon cowered near each other while DemiDevimon unintentionally had clawed on Kanto's hat hard, clutching his head tightly in the process. The other DigiDestined merely smiled in amusement, while Kyubimon flicked her head sideways, muttering sarcastically, "Ha ha ha. That sounded _hardly_ like a wolf-beast. More like…"

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Kyubimon's eyes shot up wide in surprise. Everyone immediately stiffened once again after hearing the second howl. Their first reaction was to glare at Darien, but even the teen was shocked to hear the second howl, which was louder, wilder, and sounded much more genuine compared to the earlier howl. The howl gave them the creeps.

"I didn't do it," Darien said hastily. "It wasn't me."

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The second howl came, and the third, and the fourth. By the time the fifth howl was heard everyone knew that something wasn't right.

"Please tell me that you were just playing with us, and that the wolf-beast isn't real?" Bearmon pleaded to Darien, tugging his pants fearfully.

"I didn't…but…" Darien too, was speechless. A sixth howl was heard.

"Something is very wrong here. I can feel an evil presence…no, many evil presences," Kyubimon said slowly. "They are nearby."

"Those are wolves' howls," Kanto said fearfully. His face grew paler every second. "Or…werewolves…but that can't be, can it? Werewolves are fictional…but this is the Digital World…"

Kira darted closer to her vulpine partner. "Grave dangers are lying there in the murky shadows of the night. Be wary of the full moon as it is time when the evil around here reaches its peak. Do you think….that this is what…the vanguard meant?"

"HEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPP!"

The cry of help suddenly was heard, followed by more wolf-howls. The shout was faint, feminine, and whoever shouted it was in danger from whoever that produced the howling. She was not far from where the DigiDestined and Digimon were currently at. Her cry of help was heard once again, followed this time around by whimpers of two or more soft voices.

"Somebody needs our help," Max said, and was about to rush towards the direction of the cries when Darien clutched his arm.

"Are you sure that it is safe to go that way? There could be dangerous wolves out there."

Max pushed Darien's hand away. "But the one who cried for help, she _needs_ us now. We have to go and save her. If there's danger, we'll combat them. We're the DigiDestined, isn't it our job to defend the good from the evil out there? I say we go and see what's going on."

Darien clapped Max's shoulders and smiled. "Well said. Everyone, let's go."

All of them quickly walked as fast as they could towards where the howls and the cries were heard. As they moved, the sounds became clearer and louder. The trees around them grew scant and the moonlight once again appeared to them. Stepping out of the forest, they could see a big village several meters away. The village was dark, with no traces of anybody living there at present, but clearly there were inhabitants in the village before. The village looked like it was evacuated in a hurry.

But what was more interesting was not about the village, but the ones who were fighting in front of the village's rattan-built gates. From the forest, the DigiDestined could see a petite, violet-colored humanoid bunny in a yellow getup and blue bandanna, wielding sharp gauntlets on both her hands, defending two smaller rabbit-dog creatures with drooping ears. The two rabbit-dogs were identical in almost every way, there were only two differences. One of them had light green fur, with one horn and green lines decorating its ears. The other one was brown-furred, with pink lines and three horns. All three of them looked badly injured, and the ones responsible were most likely the pack of wolves that were surrounding them from all corners.

The wolves, the DigiDestined saw, were of two species, and altogether there were five of them. Three of them resembled a Garurumon, but instead of having white fur striped with blue, the Garurumon they saw now had dirty grey fur and black stripes. The other two was lither than their larger friends, having midnight blue fur with red bat-like markings painted on their tails and backs. The blue wolves had what looked like small purple leathery batwings growing from their back, folded neatly against the mass of silver-white furs growing on their chests. The same leather batwings adorned their heads, growing in between their ears and folded in a manner that obscured their faces from the DigiDestined.

What were identical between the two species of wolves were the murderous gleams reflected from their crimson eyes, and their ferocious snarls.

The violet bunny let out a shriek before she charged towards one of the Garurumon, slashing her gauntlets determinedly. It looked like she was defending the two smaller rabbits, but it looked like she wasn't going to be able to stand the wolves for long. The fight seemed to have been dragged for a while, and the wolves seemed to be playing around with the female rabbit fighter. The Garurumon she was aiming her gauntlets at merely snapped his maws several times, enough to cause the bunny to withdraw her gauntlets in fear of losing her hand. She jumped backwards, but her feet tripped over a rock and she tumbled down, rolling backward. It was at that moment that the wolves decided to sneak in a fatal attack.

The DigiDestined decided to intervene right then.

Kyubimon leaped several steps forward. "Stop, wolves! Fox Tail Inferno!"

The wolves stopped attacking their preys, realizing that they had company now. Quickly they avoided the nine fireballs, but one of the fireballs caught on the blue wolf's fluffy tail. It snarled in retaliation, baring its yellow jagged fangs. Turning their heads towards where the DigiDestined were at, their maws turned to malicious grins, displaying their razor-sharp teeth which had faint trickles of blood. The wolves then wiped their teeth using their tongues, staring at their adversaries hungrily. However before they could advance towards the DigiDestined, four blinding lights that suddenly appeared out of nowhere caused them to stop. When the lights subsided, they saw that four of the Digimon had grown into larger Digimon, while the nine-tailed fox remained there, staring at them with disgust evident from her sharp blue eyes.

"Hey, you three!" Veedramon called out towards the three rabbits. "You guys ok?"

The purple bunny flipped herself up, and heaved a relieved breath. "We are alright, but all of you need to be careful. These BlackGarurumon and Sangloupmon are dangerous!"

Kyubimon's ears perked up as she turned to her fellow Digimon. "I have heard of Sangloupmon. Leomon had told me once that the Sangloupmon possess a keen attraction towards blood. They love to devour on the blood of Digimon. For Digimon, their blood is actually streams of liquefied data. Most Digimon absorb data from other Digimon after a battle, but these Sangloupmon have a much more gruesome way of acquiring other Digimon's data – they would bite their prey to death, draining their data in the cruelest way possible."

"And what about the BlackGarurumon?" Jon asked, looking at the black wolves fearfully.

"BlackGarurumon are just the darkened personification of the usual, vaccine-type Garurumon. No attraction towards blood."

"Ok…so the two Sangloupmon are the more dangerous out of the five," Max deduced. "Kyubimon, what type and level are they?"

"Champion. Virus type."

Max nodded and began addressing the five Digimon of a battle plan. "Ok, so, I think Veedramon and Grizzmon should fight these Sangloupmon. Wizardmon should get those…bunnies, and gather them with us. I know you don't really like fighting, so you'll be with us to defend us from those wolves. Dinohumon and Kyubimon will team up to fight the BlackGarurumon."

The Digimon thought about Max's plan, and found nothing to object on. They began to spread out towards their designated opponents, or task.

Veedramon and Grizzmon both stomped towards the lithe Sangloupmon, who upon seeing the blue dragon and the bear-wolf, snarled viciously with their crimson eyes staring towards them. Before they knew it, the two vampire-wolves lunged themselves towards them, and sunk their sharp claws onto their bodies. Veedramon tried to swat them away, but the Sangloupmon spread out their twin pairs of batwings and glided away gracefully – they were capable of limited flights.

"Oh man…they could fly?" Grizzmon growled incredulously, his eyes trailing the Sangloupmon that were swirling around them, barking like mad. "I can't focus my attack on them!"

Veedramon merely grunted in return. "If that's the case, then we just crush them at random! Hammer Punch!" He lunged forward and successfully nailed one Sangloupmon with a well-placed punch on the gut, knocking the wind out of the wolf. The Sangloupmon barked incoherent things in retaliation, and jumped back towards Veedramon with its clawed feet raised up. To Veedramon's horror, the claws expanded to blades size, and using them the Sangloupmon slashed Veedramon's arms viciously. It was lucky for Veedramon however, that his arms and whole body were made out of tough scales – the Sangloupmon's attack had merely chipped off some of his scales and produced some claw marks, but wasn't strong enough to cause the dragon to bleed. But still, the attack was excruciatingly painful, and Veedramon let out a loud howl before slapping the Sangloupmon away with a swing of his thick tail.

Grizzmon had lesser luck in dealing with the other Sangloupmon. His opponent was smart not to attack him physically, as it would only enable Grizzmon to generate his counter attack. Instead the wolf attacked the bear-wolf with black mists to obscure his sight. Grizzmon fired his Crescent Dawn attack at random, not able to see clearly his opponent. The vampire wolf had an advantage over Grizzmon; it used its claws to deflect Grizzmon's attack back towards him. Grizzmon was sent flying over a tree, knocking it off from the grounds.

Kyubimon and Dinohumon were able to keep the three BlackGarurumon at bay, as those three seemed to lack the smartness that their friends possessed. Dinohumon kept distracting them with his mystical leaves, while Kyubimon fired fireballs after fireballs whenever the wolves got too near towards the DigiDestined, who were now keeping watch as Wizardmon healed the rabbit Digimon. The wolves however were relentless; they kept trying to approach the DigiDestined, forcing Dinohumon to get up close and physical. He charged up his fiery attack and slashed his flaming blades onto the BlackGarurumon, only to be met with the wolves' Howling Blaster. Dinohumon was flung backwards, but Kyubimon launched herself forward in her burning dragon spectral form, surrounding the BlackGarurumon and burning them. However the wolves retaliated back once again, knocking Kyubimon away before heading towards the DigiDestined.

But Wizardmon was done with the healing, and saw the incoming danger. "I certainly don't think so, you mangy wolves! Thunder Blaster!" Wizardmon electrocuted the wolves with mild electric shock. Should the attack electrocute one of them, the result would be devastating, but as Wizardmon had to disperse his attack towards three opponents the effect of his thunder attack was reduced. Nevertheless it was enough to stun the wolves. Relieved, Wizardmon looked up towards the sky, only to meet with a disturbing sight.

Slowly, the clouds that were obscuring the full moon earlier began to shift, leaving the moon in its all-round glory, untouched. There was an eerie feeling accompanying the rise of the full moon. The temperature dropped a few degrees all of a sudden, despite the night being warm before. The dark wolves ceased their assault suddenly, their eyes transfixed on the moon. The crimson glow in their eyes began to intensify, and all of them suddenly raised themselves on their hind legs, their bodies straightened stiff and their heads jerked back. They then let out a long, loud, echoing howls as their bodies began to glow with silvery-red lights. Spirals of black and red lights swirled around their bodies as they grew in size and underwent a metamorphosis.

"**Sangloupmon….Digivolve to….Lykamon!"**

"**BlackGarurumon….Digivolve to…..Shadow-WereGarurumon!"**

"They have _ascended_!" the purple bunny warrior screamed in horror. "The beast wolf demons…we are doomed!"

The Sangloupmon had grown three-times their original size, into massive bipedal wolf-like demons. They retained their night blue fur, and gained three curved horns sprouting on the sides and the front of their heads. Their eyes retained the same crimson glow, and unholy black fires seemed to emanate from their large paws. The Shadow-WereGarurumon were pretty much similar to their vaccine counterpart which composed one half of the mighty Omnimon, only with brown fur, black stripes and army green pants.

"Have faith in us, Turuiemon," Wizardmon said quietly, already had gotten acquainted with the bunny. He then looked up at Kanto. "Two can play the same game, can't they?"

Seeing the transformation, all five good Digimon regrouped together, deciding to even up the score. The DigiDestined raised their Digivices, willing the powers of ascension to Ultimate level to flow from their bodies into their Digivices, and from those devices to their partner Digimon. The five Champion Digimon glowed with blue, red, yellow, green and violet lights as they began to transform.

"**Veedramon…Grizzmon…DNA Digivolve to…..Cyberdramon!"**

"**Wizardmon….Dinohumon….DNA Digivolve to…..Ardhamon!"**

"**Kyubimon….Digivolve to…..Taomon!"**

"By the sovereigns," Turuiemon, the purple bunny warrior exclaimed in surprise. "They too can ascend to Ultimate level? Inconceivable!"

"Wow, cool!" the brown-furred rabbit, Lopmon, said in delight. His cream-furred brother, Terriermon, clapped his drooping ears happily.

The Lykamon and the Shadow-WereGarurumon let out snarls and growls, despite the fact that they had called out their Digivolution calls in perfect sense. Their faces contorted hideously as they advanced towards the three good Ultimates, claws shining with dark aura. Their bloodshot eyes reflected nothing but evil. They were still greater in number, compared to their three opponents, which gave them the advantage over the good guys.

Sensing impending danger, Taomon immediately formed the dome-shaped barrier around all of them, preventing the werewolves from getting close to any of them. The werewolves snarled viciously as they attempted to claw their ways inside the barrier. The barrier shook as the five werewolves launched their attacks on it simultaneously, and Taomon seemed to be greatly strained in order to maintain the barrier in place. While maintaining the barrier, she was unable to fight, leaving only Cyberdramon and Ardhamon to deal with the werewolves.

"Ardhamon, let's go out and drive them away from Taomon and our partners," Cyberdramon said. Without waiting for an answer, he dashed out from the barrier. He launched several of his Cyber Nail attacks towards the Shadow-WereGarurumon, successfully driving them away from the barrier.

Ardhamon joined Cyberdramon and released a powerful Solar Wind Destroyer towards the Lykamon, but to his surprise the Lykamon grabbed hold of his flaming ball and energized it with their own brand of energy. The formerly glowing amber fireball turned to deep purple, radiating dark energy, and the Lykamon threw the dark ball towards Ardhamon. The dragon man tried to evade the attack but the dark ball was too swift for him. He was blasted squarely on the chest, and was thrown onto the ground. The dark power from the ball then seeped into his body, draining his own energy, and Ardhamon let out a pained cry as he devolved all the way back into Kapurimon and DemiDevimon.

"Oh no!" Kanto and Jon shouted together.

The Lykamon grunted noisily and attempted to attack the helpless Rookie and In-Training Digimon, when Cyberdramon swooped down and grabbed their friends. However, the Shadow-WereGarurumon seized the opportunity to attack the armored warrior while he was nearing their reaches. Before he managed to fly back up to the safety of the sky, Cyberdramon felt as if he was jolted by lightning, when his wings were torn by the sharp claws of the Shadow-WereGarurumon trio. He fell onto the ground with a thud, and both Kapurimon and DemiDevimon rolled out from his hold. Cyberdramon attempted to stand up once again, but one of the Lykamon blasted him with a blast concentrated with dark energy, throwing Cyberdramon several feet away, crashing through the rattan gates of the village. Weakened direly, Cyberdramon devolved back into Koromon and Tsunomon.

"No…Koromon!"

"Tsunomon…get up, quickly, please!"

The DigiDestined were appalled to see that their powerful Ultimate partners were easily bested by the five werewolves. Taomon too, hesitated whether to go and help her fellow Digimon, or remained inside the force-field to ensure that the barrier stayed erect, thus protecting the DigiDestined and the bunny siblings inside. If she were to go out from the barrier, within several seconds the barrier would go down, leaving the DigiDestined vulnerable to any attack.

The Lykamon and the Shadow-WereGarurumon inched closer towards the helpless devolved Digimon. They readied their claws, preparing to annihilate all of them at once. It was then that Taomon couldn't stand doing nothing anymore, and shot out from the barrier.

"Thousand Spells!" From her long sleeves, thousands of red scrolls with purifying incantations were shot towards the werewolves. The scrolls lambasted on the werewolves' bodies, and were stuck stiff on their furs. The werewolves let out growls of annoyance as they tried to remove the scrolls, but to their surprise the scrolls let out purifying symbols which then released a containment spell, causing the werewolves to be immobilized for a moment.

Taomon heaved a relieved sigh as she collected her four teammates, and was about to head back towards the DigiDestined, when…

"Taomon, look out!" Kira screamed, pointing towards the priestess's back.

Taomon was about to look behind her when she saw a dark ball being hurled her way. It was so near to her that she hadn't time to evade it. The ball struck her on the back, causing her to crash land on the pebbled surface of the ground. The stones grazed her clothes and skin, tearing them slightly on multiple sites. Weak, Taomon couldn't sustain her Ultimate form and devolved back to Renamon.

"Renamon!" Kira cried, horrified.

The five werewolves laughed for the first time; their laughter earsplitting, as if the world was breaking apart. They were pleased to be able to defeat their three adversaries without much effort. But as they approached the fallen five Digimon, a magnificent flash of white light blinded their eyesight, causing them to stop dead in their tracks. The light was even more purifying than Taomon's scrolls; the difference was greatly noticeable. The werewolves felt their Ultimate powers being drained, and shifted back into their Champion forms before the white light subsided.

"What's going on?" Max wondered.

Everyone then saw three mysterious figures had appeared from the white light. One of them was a tall, white armored Digimon donning a white wolf mask which covered half of his face. A stylish light violet sash was tied around his neck. He was holding two swords with blades made out of light. The other figure was a quadrupled wolf Digimon whose body was completely covered by white armor decorated with dark blue stripes on various sites. The wolf looked fully-mechanical; a Cyborg to be exact. The third figure, standing in the middle of the two aforementioned figures, was smaller in size and standing on two legs. It was wearing a pair of semi-tight black trousers over a silver-white garb which reached just before his knees, secured by a black buckle belt around the waist. His boots were the same color as his garb. The garb had a hood, and the stranger was wearing a hood to obscure his own face. He was holding a shining sword, pretty much similar to the ones that the first figure had as weapons.

The quadrupled wolf lunged forward while opening his snout. He then released a stream of jet white light towards the wolves, causing them to scatter in fear. "Lupine Laser!"

The bipedal wolf-armored warrior jumped forward in style, brandishing his twin light swords. "Lobo Kendo!" He performed several stances of marked swordsmanship, and at the same time delivering attacks towards the evil wolves as well. One of the light swords hit a BlackGarurumon, causing it to howl in pain as it tumbled onto the ground. The other four wolves snarled angrily, but they backed off, as if afraid of the light generated by the warrior's swords.

The hooded figure then moved forward, and propelled by the bipedal warrior he made an impressive somersault in the air. While still on the air, he thrust his sword of light forward and released barrages of crescent-shaped light waves towards the wolves. The light waves exploded upon contact with the dark wolves, and while the wolves didn't seem to be physically hurt, they looked as if they were injured very badly. It was as if the lights were inflicting them more injury than any physical attack.

"Amazing!" Kira exclaimed in awe. "Who are they?"

The wolves stood and for a moment there was a stare showdown between the five dark wolves and the three strangers. They seemed to be undecided of what to be done, but when the armored wolf released a stream of laser on the grounds, they snapped their maws in retaliation and took another few steps backward. Their eyes seemed to be transfixed on the light swords wielded by the tall wolf warrior and the hooded figure. Then, to everyone's surprise they turned back and ran off, barking madly in the dark of the night.

After all five of them vanished in the shadows of the night, the hooded warrior approached the DigiDestined. Then to their surprise, he lowered his hood, revealing a grinning face of a teenage boy only slightly older than Kira, Jon and Kanto themselves. The boy had a light-tan skin, with short brown hair spiked towards the front and a small ponytail merely reaching the down of his neck. His blue eyes twinkling merrily, he seemed to be delighted in meeting the DigiDestined.

"Oh, good…all of you are alright!"

The DigiDestined stared at him curiously. Kira, who was standing in front of the other DigiDestined, approached the boy cautiously. She circled around the boy, before poking the boy's shoulder with her index finger, saying finally, "You're human."

The boy gave her an amused smirk, one eyebrow quirked up. "What did you expect? Earth isn't the only place where humans live."

"Well, I don't know," Kira replied. "But you look just like us. Who are you?"

"I'm Gennai, and they are Lobomon and Garmmon," the boy introduced the three of them, and beckoned for his two friends to come towards him. The tall warrior, Lobomon, nodded at the DigiDestined respectfully, while the metallic wolf, Garmmon, grunted gruffly in acknowledgement. Both of them didn't say anything, their eyes staring at the DigiDestined curiously. "We are the apprentices of Lady Angella, the vanguard of light. She's sent us here to meet up with you guys, and to escort you to Castle Eos safely. We expect you to arrive in the morning, but you guys must have some great means of transport from File Island to here…"

"We _would_ have arrived here earlier if somebody didn't decide that he needed a break," Garmmon cut him off, with a no-nonsense kind of attitude.

"Brother, cut him some slack," Lobomon reprimanded Garmmon softly. The DigiDestined noticed that the warrior was gentler compared to the fiery Garmmon.

"Yeah, it wasn't my fault that I'm not as durable as you guys. I'm not a Digimon," Gennai said defensively.

"You're not?" Kira asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I'm human too. A_ digital_ human to be specific," Gennai said, puffing his chest proudly. Then his expression grew serious. "I'd like to explain more, and ask you to introduce yourselves, but we can do that while we're on our way to Eos. There's no time now, those wolves from the Wolfsbane Clan could be back any minute with reinforcements. We'd better go now."

"Wait," Garmmon said. "I thought that there are to be five DigiDestined and five Digimon only? There are three Digimon extra."

Turuiemon and her brothers realized that the metallic wolf was referring to them. "Oh. The three of us are not part of the DigiDestined team," Turuiemon said slowly. "They have saved me from those dark beasts. Several nights ago, our village elder had instructed us to evacuate Shadow Cove, as he sensed impending danger looming to our village with the coming of the full moon. Elder Kougamon said that we are no match for the demons; it would be safer for us to not cross path with them at all. However, those Sangloupmon and BlackGarurumon arrived unexpectedly when we were still preparing to evacuate. Elder Kougamon attempted to steer them away to give way to the villagers to escape, but…" she choked a sob, not able to continue.

Lopmon comforted the Champion by tapping her shoulders softly with his ears. Terriermon looked up at the crowd gathering around them, his beady eyes twinkling. "Those wolves killed everyone who tried to stop them, and those cruel Sangloupmon absorbed their data by drinking their blood. It was awful. If it weren't for you guys coming to save us…we'd be goners by now!"

"For that, we will always be grateful," Turuiemon said after regaining her composure. She spoke with a careful manner, but tinted with sadness over the loss of her fellow villagers.

"Turuiemon, what are we going to do now?" Lopmon asked sadly.

"I…I don't know, Lopmon. We are supposed to go to the Gekomon town to seek ShogunGekomon's aid, but with the Wolfsbane Clan looming around for these few days it would be dangerous. We might not be able to survive this trip."

"Why don't you three follow us back to Castle Eos?" Lobomon suggested kindly. "I am sure Lady Angella will be able to arrange something."

"Brother, we cannot just invite any strangers to the castle without the lady's permission!" Garmmon protested. "The DigiDestined are personally invited, and we are here to escort them back to the castle. There was no instruction for us to bring any other guests!"

Lobomon merely shrugged. "I am sure that the lady will be more than happy to accommodate them. Besides, do they seem to be untrustworthy to you?"

"I guess not," Garmmon relented. "But if the lady is angered, I shall not take the blame. It will be your fault."

"We do not want to be imposing," Turuiemon said, but it was obvious that she was glad upon hearing Lobomon's invitation.

"Nonsense. Just ignore what Garmmon had said; he's such a stickler to the rules," Gennai said kindly. "Lady Angella won't mind a single bit, I'm sure of it. You have my word."

The three bunnies brightened up considerably. "Thank you. We are grateful by this. You do not know how much this means to us," Turuiemon said softly.

"Nothing to it," Gennai said. "Now, how about we start heading back to Eos now? It's a long journey back."

* * *

Miles away from Shadow Cove, there was a valley between two rocky hills which was permanently covered by dark purple mists. In the valley, there was no difference between day and night, as the mists ensured that the valley was forever warped with darkness. The valley was called the Macabre Glade, home of the dark wolves of the Wolfsbane Clan. Nobody with a mind would dare to enter Macabre Glade, as it would only provide the dark wolves with free meals.

At the foot of one of the rocky hills, a cave was constructed. The cave's entrance was lined with gleaming bones of those who had fallen prey to the Wolfsbane Clan. Two Gururumon, icy cousins of the Garurumon species, were standing guard. Inside the dark cave was where the leader of the Wolfsbane Clan dwelled. The cave, named the Lycan Lair, wasn't a big cave. The long hallway lined with bones and torches which gave out eerie greenish flames led to a hall. The hall had one table and a throne, constructed with bones and tusks.

The leader of the Wolfsbane Clan was sitting on the throne, talking to a glowing purple sphere. He was a massive WereGarurumon, but there were differences. He was more sharply featured and appeared ten times more menacing. Sharp metallic spikes protruded on his back. He wore a dark vest made out of strong leather. His forearms, already with claws sharp enough on their own, were adorned with metal claws on each of his natural claw, which could give even more damage to those who dare oppose him. Instead of the rugged blue jeans the normal WereGarurumon usually had on, this WereGarurumon wore black leather pants, with black sleek armor covering his thighs. His knees were also protected with kneecaps made out of gleaming metal.

"It seems that your minions have been defeated by that wench's apprentices, _again_!"

"Forgive me, my lord, but those who were defeated are just mindless hunters. They weren't given specific instructions to fight Angella's apprentices last night."

"I expect better from you next time. Never mind that, for now. We have more important things to consider this instance. I have received order from the Dark One recently. Dragomon and Phelesmon have both fallen, defeated by the DigiDestined. The Dark One has instructed us to see to it that the DigiDestined will not be able to advance further than the eastern zone of Server. Other than that, we are also ordered to annihilate Angella, her precious castle of light, and those meddlesome humans of the Order of the Light."

"Those are heavy tasks, my lordship. I hate to admit this, but the Wolfsbane Clan will not be able to perform all of those tasks without sacrificing the clan itself. We will require help."

"Indeed. Do you not think that I am aware of that? However, I have contacted Astamon, and he has agreed to lend one of his Nightmare Soldiers to assist you. His request in return, is for you to report for duty after the whole thing is over. Do not forget, I trained you to be a Nightmare Soldier yourself. You shall prove yourself worthy to join the venerated taskforce to eliminate the rebellion in central Server if you are able to carry off this mission."

"I'm honored to hear this, my lord. The Wolfsbane Clan shall not disappoint. May I request to know the identity of the Nightmare Soldier that will join me, my lord?"

"It is up to Astamon to choose any of his Nightmare Soldiers to assist you. You shall know, however, soon enough. For today, I shall send my own minions to deal with the DigiDestined and the wench's apprentices. My minions have been well-placed in specific locations, ready to ambush before they arrive at their sanctuary. You shall train your clan now, X-WereGarurumon; prepare them for a wide-scale assault on Castle Eos and the headquarters of the Order of the Light several days from now. Is that understood?"

"At once, lord Mephistomon."

* * *

…..

…..

**Author's Note:**

A brand new season of Legends of the DigiDestined has begun. The chapter should be longer, but I have decided to edit out the journey from File Island to Server as there is nothing of significance happening. Besides I am eager to begin the new season, but writing it proves to be harder than I thought. The DigiDestined will meet up with Mermaidmon again in the future, but for now she will be absent to give way to the new characters I'm introducing in this arc.

More Frontier Digimon make their debut in this chapter. Before anybody decides to point out that Lobomon should be Wolfmon if I were to follow the original dub, or that Garmmon should be KendoGarurumon if I'm following the English dub…I just prefer Lobomon over the more common-sounding Wolfmon, and Garmmon sounds much cooler than KendoGarurumon, which in my opinion, sounds quite ridiculous. I'm not bashing the English dub – I think it's quite creative of them to come up with the name Lobomon, but in my opinion they should leave the name Garmmon intact.

X-WereGarurumon is actually WereGarurumon X.

Thanks for the reviews everyone. I'll be replying to reviews again, as pointed out by several reviewers that there is nothing wrong in doing so.

**_Dark Qiviut, Ultra Sonikku, Flare Flail – _**Thanks.

**_Bluesv20, Yami Vizzini – _**I'm replying to reviews again. And as for your question, _Blue_, yes, it is she who possessed Kari in Adventures, although nothing is stated about her identity in the series. That is why I create Lady Angella – the Vanguard of Light. And _Yami_, don't worry about the review mistake. I admit I was confused at first, and then I saw the second review explaining everything. Though I don't understand why the email you sent me was bounced back; my mailbox was pretty much empty except for review alerts.

**_Shadowsoul210 – _**Welcome to Legends of the DigiDestined! I'm so happy that you are enjoying what you are reading. You gave me quite a shock one day when I saw my review counts fluctuated considerably. Thanks for taking the time to review those chapters.


	31. Journey to Castle Eos

**Previously on Legends of the DigiDestined: **The DigiDestined arrive at the continent of Server just as the full moon begins to bloom. They encounter a pack of bloodthirsty wolf Digimon who have killed an entire village worth of population, with the exception of three Digimon. They come to the survivors' rescue but are immediately thwarted when the wolves, empowered by the light of the full moon, Digivolve into Ultimate level werewolves. However a trio of light-powered heroes arrives at their rescue and sends the dark wolves running. They introduce themselves as apprentices of the vanguard of light, and are assigned to escort the DigiDestined to her sanctuary – Castle Eos. And someplace else, a new Legion of Darkness is revealed.

…..

* * *

After making sure that they were possibly far enough from harm, the trio of warriors finally allowed the exhausted DigiDestined and the bunny siblings who had tagged along to rest for the rest of the night. Garmmon was against the idea, preferring for all of them to arrive at Castle Eos as soon as possible. However Lobomon and Gennai outvoted him, seeing how tired the DigiDestined had become, though not one of them complained. When told that they would stop for the night, all of them practically slumped onto the ground with sighs of relief.

They were at the entrance of a thick, untouched jungle. According to Gennai, it was foolish anyway to attempt a journey through the jungle during the night as they wouldn't be able to even see their own body in the dark of the night. Dangerous Digimon dwelled inside the jungle and it was always wise to be able to see your opponent when attacked, the young warrior told the DigiDestined, much to their dismay. They would be better off spending the night outside the jungle. Turuiemon and her siblings offered to find some firewood, and after making a fire everyone quickly drifted to slumber, with the trio warriors taking turn to stand watch.

Morning soon came, and the DigiDestined were awakened by a flavorful fragrant which enticed their taste buds enough to make them get up from their sleep.

"G'morning!" Gennai greeted cheerfully with a wave towards the rather-groggy DigiDestined. He was sitting beside the fire, grilling something over it. "Anybody want some breakfast before we continue our journey? Lobomon found some fishes from the nearby river…" the boy indicated towards a direction, and the DigiDestined realized that 'nearby' could actually mean miles, as there were no river in sight. "…and Turuiemon and the little ones gathered some nuts and berries. You don't have to worry about them being poisonous…Garmmon, paranoid as always, had taken it upon himself to _personally_ inspect each and every food item, and had declared all of them safe. Don't ask how he did it…believe me, you _don't_ want to know." Gennai was grinning cheekily, earning some suspicious stares from the DigiDestined and the Digimon.

Renamon's nose twitched slightly as she eyed the foods. She thought that she could smell a very faint scent of saliva…but knowing the DigiDestined, Kira in particular, she decided against telling them of how Garmmon had inspected the foods. She took one fish gingerly and shared it with Kira. Following her example, the other DigiDestined quickly devoured on the fishes and the fruits while watching an interesting argument that had begun between the trios of warriors.

Garmmon huffed indignantly towards Gennai. "At least I made an effort to keep the DigiDestined safe, unlike the brat and the pretty-boy there."

"Do not feel threatened by his harsh words," Lobomon countered serenely; he didn't seem to be bothered by the nickname Garmmon had given him. "My brother's bark is usually worse…much worse, than his bite. He just wants to really stress the fact that he is the one that cared about you all the most."

"Nice one, Lobo!" Gennai snickered, and patted the tall warrior's shoulders. Garmmon snorted in annoyance and stalked off somewhere, after snatching a fish from the fire. "Aww…_Garmmy's_ mad at us." The boy howled in laughter and quickly scampered away when Garmmon turned back, a deadly look set in his eyes.

"Do not ever call me that asinine name! I have told you that before, and I cannot tolerate this childishness from you!"

"I'm sorry. C'mon…lighten up, Garmmon," Gennai apologized. "You're scaring the DigiDestined with your fierceness. And besides, you have to admit…you're the one who started it."

"I started out _what_?"

The digital human smirked. "The name callings, remember? Brat, pretty-boy…we're just delivering the counter attack."

"Humph," Garmmon grunted resolutely. The witty Gennai did have a point. Not knowing how to retort, the metallic wolf chose to sit down and silently ate his meal. He did make an effort to let his feelings be known; by the way he turned his back against Gennai and Lobomon. Gennai merely shrugged and flashed a toothy grin towards the DigiDestined before announcing that he and Lobomon would be off fetching some water for the DigiDestined to drink and wash up.

The DigiDestined didn't know what to make of the three warriors' behaviors. Gennai seemed to be the playful one as opposed to Garmmon being the brash, no-nonsense one, while the composed Lobomon seemed to act as mediator, seemingly the most level-headed one as well. However, the three of them made quite enjoyable companies. They enjoyed their meals in silence.

All the while, Kira was staring towards Gennai, watching as his figure became fainter gradually as he and Lobomon set off to the so-called nearby river. Her face adopted a slightly dreamy outlook, which was broken when she felt somebody poking her shoulder from behind.

"You're…_human_!" Jon exclaimed in mock-surprise, adopting a rather high-pitched voice. He was imitating Kira's reaction upon seeing Gennai for the first time the previous night.

Kira batted Jon's hand away. "I didn't know! He could be a….uh, giant lizard, or something!" she said defensively, although her cheeks had become several shades pinker.

Kanto snorted, seemingly annoyed. "Yeah, right." He ignored Kira's glare, pretending that somehow watching DemiDevimon eating his fish was far more interesting.

"I think Gennai looks like those Jedi knights from those old sci-fi movies…Star Wars," Jon said, quickly diffusing the situation between Kira and Kanto. "The swords he and Lobomon have…kinda look like the _lightsabers _in those movies, don't you think?"

Kira shrugged. "You're asking me? I don't watch those kinds of movies, remember? I wouldn't know. Those are the types of movies you and Darien love to watch back home."

"Yeah," Darien quipped. "Kira thinks that no movies can beat Disney's Aladdin! A whole new world…." Darien purposely howled the chorus all over, ignoring all rhythms and melody.

All the Digimon cringed over hearing Darien's mockery of the beautiful song. "That's an awful song!" Bearmon commented. "I can't believe Kira likes it."

"That's because Darien's an awful singer! The song is charming," Kira snapped irritably. "You should be thankful you don't have to endure his singings while he's showering, Bearmon."

"Humph! Everyone's a critic," Darien said with a mock-pout. "You'll be taking back your words when I make it big one day, as a worldwide famous singer-cum-model-cum-actor! Don't even think of asking me for an autograph when that day comes."

"That's your ambition?" Max asked dryly. "Somehow I'm not surprised…"

"Hey, you can't blame me for knowing my strong points," Darien shot back with a grin.

Max chose not to pursue to conversation. Instead, he had noticed that somebody from the group wasn't joining in with the conversation. Kanto seemed to be reasonably moody, and though everybody else seemed not to notice it, he did. And he had a slight suspicion that he knew the reason behind it. He quickly made a mental note to ask the youngest member of the group about it whenever he managed to talk to the strawberry-blonde boy without others noticing.

Gennai and Lobomon returned about half-an-hour later with the promised water. As soon as everyone was finished with their drinks and their cleaning ups, they resumed their journey to Castle Eos, which according to Gennai, was located at the top of the very steep, very high-reaching-up-to-the-stratosphere, and also very hallowed, Skydancer Mountain. It was early in the morning when they started their journey, and the boy warrior predicted that they would be reaching the grounds of Skydancer Mountain by sunset, if they were lucky.

And unknown to them, someone was set on making sure that the DigiDestined would not be so lucky.

* * *

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

**_Chapter 31 – Journey to Castle Eos _**

…..

…..

Within the thick purple mists that blanketed the valley of Macabre Glade, a tall figure was seen treading the path that led to the main grounds of the valley. The humanoid Digimon was a strange sight; clearly masculine with abnormally long arms, he was draped from head to toe with bandages, exposing only his slanting eyes with beady pupils and his mouth, rowed with sharp teeth. On his head was a purple scarf, and two belts were strapped across his body in opposite directions, forming an X, while another belt was worn across his thin waist.

The mummified figure however seemed to be walking with a slight difficulty, though it was certain that the bandages were not the reason. He was crippled; both his legs were secured with shining metallic casts. But anyone who underestimated him at first sight would definitely think twice, upon setting sight of his sharp black claws and the large rusty machinegun he was carrying with his right hand.

He walked with certain resoluteness and familiarity towards the entrance of Lycan Lair, careful not to step on the sleeping Sangloupmon, BlackGarurumon and the normal Garurumon which were sprawled haphazardly on the main ground. The Gururumon that guarded the entrance both gave him acknowledging nods as he entered the cave; clearly he was quite a recognized figure around the area, although not having any semblance to a wolf at all.

Inside the main room, X-WereGarurumon was dozing slightly but his senses perked up instantly upon recognizing a familiar scent. He opened his eyes and stood up quickly upon seeing his visitor.

"Mummymon, old friend!" he exclaimed, seemingly glad by the one visiting him. This was confirmed by his next words. "Great to see that it's you Lord Astamon has sent for to help me, instead of the others." He grunted with distaste.

"Likewise," Mummymon proclaimed with a raspy voice. His eyes however twinkled, reflecting his gladness of meeting X-WereGarurumon. He took a seat on one of the bone-stool and placed his weapon on the table. "What has your master assigned to you this time that you'd require my help again?"

"It's a big one. I'll tell you."

* * *

It was already late in the afternoon, more than two hours after they had started walking in the morning, when the DigiDestined all felt that another quick break was due. They were now inside the thick jungle, and neither of the DigiDestined could understand what could be so dangerous of walking inside the jungle during the night. They hadn't encounter any dangerous Digimon that Gennai had told them about; only peaceful ones who all went about with their daily businesses and some curious younglings that observed them from a distance. And if the darkness was the main concern, their Digimon, Kyubimon in particular, could provide some light.

The jungle was full of exotic plants none of the chosen had ever encountered before, with vivid myriad of colors. The sun was bright, but thanks to the thick canopies provided by the trees, both the intense heat and rays of sunlight were filtered considerably, leaving the group of adventurers feeling only pleasantly cool. But of course, two hours of non-stop journey would easily make anyone sweat, and the DigiDestined were no exceptions, cool or not.

"Alright. We shall rest here for an hour only!" Garmmon announced. "That way we can still make it back to Castle Eos by sundown."

"Ahh…finally, rest!" Darien said appreciatively as he carelessly slumped himself over a bunch of thick, dry leaves. He lied down over the leaves, folding his arms behind his head for pillow, and closed his eyes. Bearmon followed suit but with lesser grace compared to his human partner.

"You guys have really…low in stamina or something," Gennai said blatantly, not seemed to be tired at all. "All of you Human World's humans…except for you…" he pointed towards Max. "…seem to be easily tired."

"It's not our fault that we are not trained to be warriors, like you," Kanto replied irritably as he chose a spot to sit down. He finally settled for an exposed root of a tree, which was covered fully by green moss. He took a dry leaf and used it to wipe away the moss before sitting down, while taking out his sketch book and pencil. With DemiDevimon peering curiously over his shoulder Kanto began to observe his surroundings thoughtfully, his hand idly began to sketch around.

Gennai shrugged. "Touchy." He looked at Max, who was aware of being watched. The redhead turned to look at the brown-haired digital human and raised a questioning eyebrow. "Oh…like I said before…you look stronger than your friends." His blue eyes trailed towards Kira and Jon, taking no notice that Kira was quick to glance away from him when his eyes bored on her, and Jon snickering at her actions. He revert his gaze back to Max and returned the same expression the older boy had given him before. He sat down on the ground. "So I was wondering…"

Slightly amused by the young warrior's action, Max chose to sit down beside him. He thought for a moment for an answer, his eyes trailed to ToyAgumon's for a brief second before turning back to meet Gennai's. "I did _a lot_ of chores back home." Grimacing slightly, he gestured to the other DigiDestined. "And I don't think they have to do it on their own."

"Somehow I think there's a story behind that simple explanation…but it's none of my business, I guess." Shrugging, he gestured towards Kanto. "Any idea why he is rather…snappy towards me?"

Max considered for a while, before a strained smile crept up on his lips. "Oh…well, I have a theory, but I won't say it. However I suggest you look closer towards Jon and Kira; that might give you some insights of what's going on."

"I do notice that Kira is staring at me," Gennai said thoughtfully. "I don't know why…my face is weird or something? I'm pretty sure there's nothing strange on my face."

Max shook his head. Gennai then decided that he had other questions in mind, and since he was already engaged with the leader of the DigiDestined in a conversation, he was the perfect person for Gennai to get to know the DigiDestined team as a whole.

"You know…I've always been excited to meet the fabled DigiDestined, and I am excited now…but somehow I just don't feel like we cliqued yet. Jon and Kira seem to shy away from me, and Kanto always seem so grouchy around me. Darien…I'm not sure; he's nice, I think…but I've never gotten around talking with him that much yet."

"And you've made all of these analyses after meeting us for like what...after hours of meeting us?" Max asked back. "Let me tell you this; those four have already known each other before coming to the Digital World, and when they arrived, I've already been here for almost two weeks. I think I was…a mystery for them for quite a while, but after battling Phelesmon the five of us got closer, and we work even better together. I think the same situation now apply to you. You're quite a character – and I can tell that all of them are quite impressed, myself included. I'm glad that you decide to talk with me first; I'm not so sure myself of how I'm going to talk to you. Go and talk to each and every one of them. You look like a nice kid, I'm sure that after a while we'll get along together even better."

"I'm not a kid," Gennai grumbled. "I think I'm older than the three kids in your team. But thanks for the insight, Max. I'll keep that in mind."

"Glad to help. Speaking about kids…" Max's eyes suddenly noticed that two of their numbers had disappeared. "Where are Kira and Jon?"

Looking around, the only ones he saw were the sleeping Darien and Bearmon, and Kanto looked absorbed in his sketching with DemiDevimon looking intently from his favorite spot – on top of Kanto's Gilligan hat. Lobomon and Garmmon hadn't returned from wherever they had gone off earlier. And strangely, the bunny siblings were missing as well.

His questions were answered though, with loud, ungodly roars, followed by what sounded like Kira's horrified scream.

* * *

Earlier, out of boredom and aided with a little thirst of adventure, Kira and Jon had decided to do some exploring around the area they were stopping by. Renamon and Kotemon naturally followed them, intent to keep an eye on their partners. They had asked Kanto and DemiDevimon to join them, but the strawberry blonde artist was keen on sketching some rare exotic plants of the jungle and had declined their offer. Turuiemon and her siblings however shared Kira and Jon's enthusiasms, and had quickly agreed to follow them as well.

After walking deeper into the jungle for a while, to everyone's amazement, they reached into a clearing, which housed what looked like the ruins of an ancient-looking building. It wasn't a very large building; its high, pointed tip of the roof merely reached the canopies, and somehow the canopies gave the building a rather creepy, shadowy appearance. The building was destroyed enough to wipe out the remains of its identity prior to its destruction, and it looked like the building had been that way for ages. Vines had crept all over the building, and moss had covered most of the stone bricks used as the building's walls, making the building more green instead of its origin color which, by the time it was found by the two DigiDestined and friends, were pretty hard to determine . The floor was covered with dirt and soil, and years of disrepair had made the floor cracked on various sites. From the cracks, grasses grew out from them.

"Where in the world are we?" Kira wondered with awe.

"This place looks…looked, I suppose, amazing!" Jon exclaimed. "I wonder what it used to be before it became like this. And why is it darker here than the rest of the jungle."

Turuiemon walked past Terriermon and Lopmon, trying to get a closer view of the building. Her eyes widened as she recalled something that had been told to her once not too long ago. "Elder Kougamon…no, I suppose it is the late Elder Kougamon, had told the story of a sacred building built deep in a thick jungle just days before the wolves came to our village. This, I believe, is that building, although I seem to recall the late elder mentioning about this building being a place of…adulation, I suppose that is the word, for the forest-dwelling Digimon to the protector of the jungle. This used to be a beautiful building until Mephistomon invaded this part of the continent and destroyed most of it."

"Oh," both Kira and Jon said, absorbing what Turuiemon had just said.

"Should we enter it?" Terriermon asked curiously.

Kira smiled at the little beige bunny. "I don't see why not."

"Actually, I don't see why we _should_," Renamon countered hastily. "I don't like the way the shadows look like around this building. It doesn't look right at all; not the way a sacred place such as this should be. Furthermore, I seem to detect a sinister presence around here. I can't exactly determine how...or where…but I do not like it at all."

"It is said too, that after Mephistomon attacked this place, his darkness lingered still…" Turuiemon drawled on cautiously.

Renamon nodded in agreement. "That only stresses my point. But actually, my main reason is…those ugly statues that built across the rails of the roof. They don't look like they belong here."

The kitsune pointed up towards the roof. Everyone followed the direction her paw was pointing, and saw that indeed there were large statues there. Six in total, all of them were identical, with lank bodies and extremities, great pairs of wings and grotesque faces. They were all built in a sitting position, their heads crooned down towards the ground eerily. The shadows around the building only emphasized their creepiness.

"Those are gargoyles," Jon said slowly. "They look real scary. I don't think going in is such a good idea."

"Oh come on!" Kira scoffed. "Are you saying we're just giving up exploring this building just because of those gross-looking statues? That'll be a complete waste…we don't get to see this kind of building back in Odaiba, and I imagine that even if this kind of building exists in other countries, we won't get to see it. Not for a long time. It's like a haunted mansion…and I'm going in!"

Kira took big, ginger steps towards the building, ignoring Renamon's protests. She approached the building's entrance and noticed how the building's shadows fell on her. Renamon was right, she thought silently. There was a sinister feeling around the building, especially now that she was within the place where the shadows fell, but Kira immediately brushed it off. She won't let that held her back. She turned around to face Jon and the Digimon, a triumphant smile set on her face as she leaned across the walls.

"See? There's nothing to it."

Kira then realized that everyone's expressions paled all of a sudden, and something inside of her told her to look up…and she let out a scream as a winged figure loomed towards her.

* * *

"My plan is set," a breathy masculine voice muttered. "They are stirred."

Within the pitch-black darkness that enveloped the one that had done the talking, it was hard to discern his identity. He was staring at a glowing orb of purple light that hovered in front of him. The orb showed the whereabouts of his current nemesis; a certain group of five young humans with Digimon partners, as well as three warriors of the light.

"The DigiDestined will meet obstacles, of course…I'm not going to make their journey to find miss light's castle easy."

The purple light gave out some of his appearances, and a ghastly large satyr was revealed. He had thick legs and forearms covered with deep purple furs. The rest of his body was black, and his leathery black wings spanned out in a distance. His shoulders were neon blue and on the middle of his muscular torso, a glowing yellow star-shaped symbol – the symbol of the demon – was engrafted. His face was expressionless, leathery ivory. Thick purple hair grew down the sides of his head, and huge ram horns grew on top of his head.

"Course, if I'm lucky…the first obstacles they are about to face could easily crush them to pulp, but I shouldn't have my hope too high."

The satyr let out a maniacal laugh as he stared towards the orb once again.

"But of course, I should have faith. Heh, heh, heh…if those Armors are not up to standard, there are always my ultimate pet that awaits them. They are sure to be more than able to defeat those wretched fighters of the light. Oh, how I hate the light! With their demise, forcing Angella and her meddling Order down will not be too difficult."

* * *

When Kira leaned across the building, the others immediately noticed that the gargoyles began to stir ever so slightly. They shone with a spine-chilling grey aura, and their eyes shone with bright red. A soft humming sound was heard before the six gargoyles built on the rails morphed silently into six unearthly creatures. The gargoyles that came to life all looked dragon like, with white scales and wings. Their tails however were deep blue, and the same was true for their sharp claws. Their mouths seemed to be constricted by white leather muzzles, and their bodies were also draped with ivory belts around the waist and were crisscrossed across their torsos. Black shoulder pads totally contrasted the rest of their appearances offered protection for their shoulders, and on their wrists, leather gauntlets with an X and O-shaped yellow metals were adorned.

One of the gargoyles that came to life suddenly swooped down from the banister and caught Kira with its clawed feet. This resulted in the girl to let out a high-pitched scream as she was lifted high in midair. The gargoyles however, remained silent – their ability to let out any form of sound was constricted by the glowing white muzzle worn on their maws. However, their glowing crimson eyes then pulsated with life, and their bodies too shimmered with crimson light. The muzzles that held their mouths melted and not long thereafter loud screeches were heard coming from them.

Jon closed his ears immediately to block out the high-pitched wails. "What are they?" he yelled.

The Digimon however, were unstirred. Turuiemon assumed her fighting stance, with Lopmon and Terriermon both ready to defend themselves. She stared in disbelief towards the creatures, recalling some other details about the story about the dilapidated building.

"Those are Gargoylemon! Armor level Digimon of virus type! It was said that Mephistomon used them to destroy this holy sanctum when he first invaded the jungle, but nothing was ever said about the Gargoylemon to remain in this area."

One of the said Gargoylemon swooped down towards the three bunnies, but Turuiemon fearlessly leapt up and slashed her sharp gauntlets towards the offending Gargoylemon. The Gargoylemon let out a pained shriek, and the younger bunny duo seized the chance to attack it simultaneously.

"Blazing Fire!"

"Blazing Ice!"

A ray of green flame shot out from Terriermon's mouth, and a ray of ice shards was emitted from Lopmon's mouth. The two attacks burnt the Gargoylemon's one side of the wing, while piercing the other side with the ice shards. The Gargoylemon's flight was immediately impaired, and Renamon, worried about her partner's safety, took advantage the falling Gargoylemon as a stepping stone to leap up to great heights, towards the one who had captured Kira.

"Let her go! Diamond Storm!"

The Gargoylemon was hit with Renamon's sharp diamond shards, but was uninjured as it used its great wings to swipe away the shards. It then let out a supersonic shriek which impaired Renamon's balance while in midair, forcing her to fall.

"Oh no! Renamon!" Kira cried, worried about her fox partner.

Fueled by her worry, Kira's Digivice glowed and while still in midair, Renamon morphed into Kyubimon in a flash of brilliant yellow light. The quadrupled fox then turned into a blue dragon specter, gliding back up towards the Gargoylemon that had seized her partner. She rammed headfirst at the Gargoylemon, forcing it to let Kira go. Kira was released, but it also meant that she was in another grave danger – of falling. The girl let out yet another scream and closed her eyes, hoping that something would break her fall. Miraculously she landed with a soft thud onto a soft, furred surface. Strong winds hit her face and her pigtails floated up. Opening her eyes, she saw that she had landed on Kyubimon.

"Kyubimon! Thank goodness!"

"Kira, hold on to me close. The danger's not over yet."

Jon saw that Kyubimon was in danger of being ganged up by the Gargoylemon, and quickly took out his Digivice. Kotemon quickly ascended into Dinohumon, and launched his mystical attack. The numinous leaves slammed onto all gargoyles, forcing them to forget about attacking Kyubimon. The nine-tailed fox landed safely near the others and Kira quickly got off her partner, as not to be a liability to Kyubimon in the battle.

The good Digimon then jumped forward to protect the two DigiDestined from the menacing Gargoylemon. They noticed that all six gargoyles were in good fighting condition, except for the one attacked by Turuiemon, Terriermon and Lopmon earlier; its left wing had a glaring hole thanks to Lopmon's sharp ice shards. Despite that, somehow it was still resilient. While Lopmon turned to ask Turuiemon something, he didn't notice the Gargoylemon's crimson eyes fixed on him. And suddenly without warning; it opened its mouth and released a black orb towards Lopmon.

"Lopmon, look out!" Terriermon saw the incoming attack and jumped in his brother's way. He was struck on the back, and fell limp onto Lopmon.

"Terriermon!"

Both Lopmon and Turuiemon were shocked to see their brother Terriermon, beginning to distort. It was like the data particles which took form of his body were in the verge of separation. The black orb released by the Gargoylemon engulfed Terriermon in black aura. Terriermon's dark eyes shot up but no sound came from his mouth. However it was obvious, from the way Terriermon contorted his face that he was in great pain. Yet he was still struggling, obviously wanting to say something. Both Turuiemon and Lopmon drew their heads closer to their fallen brother, and gasped in horror upon hearing Terriermon's last, parting word.

"Goodbye…"

With that final word said, Terriermon combusted into data particles, much to the horror of his two siblings.

"NO! Terriermon!"

The two rabbits collapsed onto the ground, overwhelmed with grief upon losing their sibling. They cried as they watched Terriermon's data disappeared within the thick trees, carrying his last word like a breath in the wind. At the same time, Kira too, almost fell onto the ground if it weren't for Jon to catch her in time. The girl leaned close to the blonde boy and cried, softly at first but grew steadfastly in despair.

"Jon…it killed the little Terriermon. Oh…if it wasn't for _me_ not listening to you guys…"

The sandy brown-haired girl was blaming herself for the loss of Terriermon. Jon, loss for words upon witnessing the tragedy that had just occurred to the bunny siblings, tried to comfort the crying girl by patting her back. Both Kyubimon and Dinohumon, shaken as well, kept their eyes onto the Gargoylemon, who were watching the crying girl and Digimon expressionlessly, without pity. The Gargoylemon which had killed Terriermon flew back to join its comrades.

The six living gargoyles then loomed all at once towards them, all opening their mouths to deliver the same black orbs towards the remaining survivors. Dinohumon quickly jumped in midair and brought his blades forward and threatened to slash any Gargoylemon who dared to come close. However the dino-warrior lacked flying ability and soon was forced to land on the ground. The Gargoylemon then open-fired their black orbs, aimed towards Turuiemon and Lopmon, and towards Jon and Kira. Kyubimon lit up her nine tails and quickly launched her fireballs to counter the black orbs. The nine fireballs met up with the six orbs in midair, and while they were no match for the Gargoylemon's attacks, the fireballs were successful in diverting all six orbs away, hitting on the tress and the building instead of their intended targets.

"STOP THIS!"

Turuiemon immediately stood up, a deadly look set on her usually-calm face. She raised her gauntlets and launched herself high, no longer caring that she was in danger of being deleted as well. It seemed that the death of her sibling had driven her to the point of near madness. Lopmon was no exception; he seemed to have forgotten how inferior he was compared to the Gargoylemon, and quickly flapped his ear-wings furiously to join his sister. They leaped in the air side by side, both possessed with rage and ready to avenge their deleted brother.

Turuiemon launched a bout of punches while Lopmon fired ice shards relentlessly. The Gargoylemon retaliated by hitting them violently with their long arms, but the rabbits were set on avenging their brother that they didn't care any longer of the injuries they themselves had sustained. They let out a shout altogether, and to everyone's surprise they themselves glimmered with black shadows. Lopmon's body dispersed into a grey mote of light which swirled around Turuiemon's body. Turuiemon's eyes turned bloodshot as she welcomed the mote to enter her body, and once that happened she herself began to grow bigger and taller.

Her arms and legs elongated and her purple furs changed into dark brown. Her yellow gi was replaced by a red armor covering her torso and a pair of deep purple puffy trousers. Around her neck was a leathery white covering, adorned on the top by a purple scarf. The look on her crimson eyes was maniacal. She raised her abnormally long arms, and her paws suddenly transformed into axes. She let out a brazen cry and launched herself with unrivalled agility towards the Gargoylemon.

Kyubimon felt uneasy upon watching the newcomer. "They DNA Digivolved together…but with a dark influence. I sense nothing but hatred and malice inside the new Digimon."

Dinohumon looked at the newly-formed Digimon with distrust. "Kyubimon, we better stay here and protect the DigiDestined. The large bunny looks more than able to handle these Gargoylemon…we must make sure that nothing happened to the DigiDestined. I'm afraid that she's snapped enough to turn against us."

Kyubimon and Dinohumon then watched as the merged form of Turuiemon and Lopmon fought the Gargoylemon without holding back at all. She launched her axes mercilessly; slashing the Gargoylemon without caring about the injury she sustained herself. She successfully injured four Gargoylemon by slashing their wings and extremities. Two – one of them being the one that had killed Terriermon – were killed by having their heads chopped away from their bodies by the sharp axes. The giant rabbit Digimon turned her attention towards the DigiDestined, Kyubimon and Dinohumon. Her face was unreadable, as if determining whether they were enemies that needed to be eliminated or not. Her eyes bored into Kyubimon and Dinohumon, and both Digimon could have sworn that the rabbit's fierceness had softened a little. The rabbit then turned away and hopped into the depth of the jungle, howling a despairing cry.

It was only after the rabbit was out of sight the rest of the good guys joined Kira and Jon.

"What happened here?" Gennai asked, inhaling sharply upon seeing the gruesome sight that welcomed him.

Across the grounds, the four injured Gargoylemon were sprawled chaotically, with dark blue liquid spattered on the building and the floor. The injuries they were suffering were too severe that they could no longer fight. The dead Gargoylemon's heads were seen rolling on the floor while the bodies remained intact instead of disappearing into data particles like all Digimon usually did when they were deleted. A nauseous odor began to emanate from their surrounding, possibly derived from the blue blood of the Gargoylemon.

Kira tearfully looked at the warrior and began to relate the story, with Jon helping her when she was at loss of words.

* * *

It took a while for the DigiDestined to resume their journey, but with Garmmon's insistence that they should be at the grounds of Castle Eos by sundown, they finally resumed their journey. For the next few hours the DigiDestined traveled in silence, eager to reach Castle Eos as quickly as possible. Kira was still saddened by the demise of Terriermon, mostly blaming herself for getting the idea to travel, and for ignoring the others' warnings before venturing the building. Jon was silent, mostly because he too was part of this. Kanto felt awkward walking by the two of them, and his attempts to get the two to talk to him were in vain.

Gennai was walking behind the young trio, observing them for the most of the journey when he was not cleaning his laser sword. Earlier, he and his fellow apprentices had taken the burden of eliminating the rest of the Gargoylemon. They were told of Turuiemon's and Lopmon's corrupted DNA Digivolution, and Gennai confirmed the identity of the merged form as Antylamon, an Ultimate level Digimon and a natural evolutionary form of both Turuiemon and Lopmon. Other than reaching Castle Eos, they were also on a lookout for the sorrowful Ultimate who had run off into the jungle on her own.

The sky grew dark as evening approached, and the DigiDestined were apprehensive. They were tired after walking for so long, but didn't want to stop for fear of allowing yet another tragedy to happen once again. Seeing that their human partners were tired, the Digimon Digivolved into their Champion forms to allow their partners to ride on them. Darien and Jon rode on Grizzmon together, Max and Kanto traveled on Veedramon's shoulders while Kira rode silently on Kyubimon. The grounds were flatter now, which made it easier for them to travel on their partners.

Trees were scarce, and the group soon arrived at a slightly fogged area. Yet, it was a magnificent area to behold, because of the presence of the gleaming ivory bones that were arranged in a structure, forming what looked like a small fortress made out completely out of bones and only bones. The team stopped for a while to admire the bone-fortress.

"Whoa! Get a load of these!" Darien shouted excitedly as he got down from Grizzmon. He ran towards the bones and ran his hands through them. "These bones are so huge, kinda like dinosaur ones. What do you think, Jon?"

"Huh?" the blonde boy asked back. "Oh…" He eyed the bones critically. "Well…they do look like the ones I've seen inside the dinosaur encyclopedias back home."

"Cool!" Darien poked his head into the in-betweens, which coincidently was large enough to fit his head. "Check this out! It's like a cave in here!" His voice echoed inside the fortress's bone walls.

"Are we stopping by here?" Kanto asked with interest. He quickly reached in the bag pack he was carrying. "'Cause I'd like to get this on sketch, if that's okay."

"It is not advisable," Lobomon answered hastily. "This area is deemed by the lady Angella as dangerous…though she did not say exactly why."

"I do sense an uncanny presence, though I can't really discern what," Kyubimon said. She eyed the bone-fortress suspiciously. "I've felt it once; back at that building with all the Gargoylemon."

"Renamon is correct. We should just head straight on towards the sacred grounds of Castle Eos. There, no evil can harm us," Garmmon said quickly. He seemed to be a little bit on edge. "Come on; dusk is approaching and it is not safe to travel in this jungle when sunset is approaching." It was obvious that the metallic wolf was feeling uneasy.

"Don't let your curiosity get the better of you," Kira said hollowly. Her eyes still sparkled with tears, although she wasn't crying. "We should get going."

Darien and Kanto both looked at her with concern. "I guess we better," Darien said finally.

However, just as Darien turned his back against the fortress, suddenly the earth rumbled as the fortress unexpectedly… moved. Dusts and leaves rained onto the teenage DigiDestined as he turned around, intrigued, only to be met with a pair of glowing crimson orbs, set on a skull of a dinosaur. It was a large, skeletal creature. The glowing light that emanated from the eyes radiated pure evil and was enough to shake Darien.

"Oh my GOD! What the hell is that thing!" he yelled, and quickly made a run for it towards the others.

Everyone looked to Gennai for explanation, and noticed the warrior's face had become considerably pale. He was shaking visibly. For the first time ever, the DigiDestined saw that the usually fearless Gennai was now as afraid as they were. His blue eyes widened and sweat trailed down his face. Even Lobomon and Garmmon were no exception.

"That….that is SkullGreymon!"

The fortress of bones, now revealed to be actually a Digimon called SkullGreymon, hissed loudly upon seeing the crowd that gathered before it. Then it let out a thunderous roar which echoed all across the silent jungle. With every step it took the earth shook. It swung its bony tail at random, knocking down trees and everything its tail was able to reach. SkullGreymon was massive; it was understandable that during its slumber and with its ugly head hidden, it could be mistaken as a fortress. Now that it was awakened, SkullGreymon wasn't going to let the ones that disturbed its slumber getting away.

"This is not good," Max said. He slid down Veedramon. "Everyone, to your Ultimate form now!"

Quickly before SkullGreymon could reach the DigiDestined, three Digimon were there to stop it. Cyberdramon, Ardhamon and Taomon circled around the skeletal creature, trying to find an opening to attack. Seeing the three Ultimate Digimon, SkullGreymon suddenly went berserk. However, despite not seeming to have a brain, SkullGreymon was also surprisingly smart. It knocked Cyberdramon away with its tail and slashed its bony claws onto Ardhamon at the same time. The two Ultimates crashed onto the trees that had not been knocked down by the viral Digimon.

"Talisman of Light!"

SkullGreymon was then hit by Taomon's signature attack, but it didn't even phase it. In retaliation, the bony juggernaut hunched down and from its back, an organic, orange cannon was released from its holster. The cannon was aimed directly towards Taomon, but the priestess was quick to erect a barrier around her. The cannon exploded upon contact with the barrier, and for a while it seemed that Taomon was able to hold off the attack – but then it was obvious that the attack was too strong for her to resist. After the cannon had dissipated, so was Taomon's barrier and she was sent flying towards the DigiDestined. Taomon crashed onto the ground and devolved all the way back to her In-Training form of Viximon.

"Oh no! Viximon, are you alright?" Kira quickly went forward to collect the small Digimon.

"No, I was hit by a cannon. I am _far_ from alright," Viximon moaned as Kira cradled her.

Cyberdramon and Ardhamon however were still strong enough to hold off SkullGreymon. This time, they were joined by Lobomon and Garmmon. Together they gave SkullGreymon all they got and for a while SkullGreymon was pushed back. SkullGreymon got angered and went on a rampage by tearing down trees, and used the trees as weapons against the four good Digimon. He threw away the trees and the good guys had a hard time trying to evade them.

Cyberdramon unleashed his Desolation Claw technique to slice away the trees while Ardhamon chose to burn all of them. However, by doing this they would only be draining their own energy. They knew that they could not hold on any longer.

"Gennai! Take the DigiDestined away, now!" Garmmon shouted.

Gennai nodded and gestured the DigiDestined to follow him. They quickly made a run for it.

However, SkullGreymon was not going to allow that. It quickly ignored its four opponents and turned to give chase to the DigiDestined.

"I don't think so, buster!" Ardhamon growled. "Solar Wind Destroyer!"

The giant fireball which was bright as a star stopped SkullGreymon dead on its track. Ardhamon released the fireball, but SkullGreymon countered it quickly with its Dark-Side Attack. A huge explosion ensued after the collision. When the smokes that resulted from the explosion cleared off, they saw that SkullGreymon was still intact, despite having some burnt marks on its many bones. Some of its bones were chipped, but for being able to resist Ardhamon's most powerful attack, SkullGreymon was clearly stronger than any of them.

SkullGreymon saw that its opponents were weakened and quickly launched four cannons, one after another, one for each opponent. The good Digimon tried to evade the cannons but it seemed that the cannons had minds of their own. They trailed the four Digimon wherever they attempted to go. Cyberdramon and Ardhamon both tried their hardest to generate their mightiest attacks to counter the cannons, and they succeeded at the cost of their own energy. Weakened, they reverted back into four Rookies.

Lobomon and Garmmon however took the smarter approach. Instead of trying to beat down the cannons, they made a run for it…towards SkullGreymon. The hulking skeletal dinosaur roared in anger as it tried to force the wolves to head towards another direction, but they were determined that if they were going to be destroyed, than SkullGreymon would go down with them as well. They climbed onto SkullGreymon and waited for the cannon to come their way before jumping as far as they could. SkullGreymon quickly fired one cannon and managed to counter one of his own attacks, but the other cannon blasted onto its tail…and broke it into many bony pieces. The bone pieces flew in various directions, some hitting the wolves squarely on the faces.

The now tailless SkullGreymon was beyond furious. It was now set to crush down the wolves with the remaining bones of its body. It was about to trample the wolves when a blur of brown shot towards SkullGreymon and shoved the wolves out of its way. SkullGreymon looked up in confusion; his crimson glare was met with a stern gaze by a giant rabbit Digimon.

"It's Antylamon!" Kotemon exclaimed.

Antylamon looked at the Digimon with a sorrowful gaze. "Run, all of you! I shall hold this creature!"

"But…you're no match for him!" Kotemon protested. "You'll be killed!"

Antylamon locked SkullGreymon in with her lanky arms. "I cannot hold SkullGreymon any longer! GO!"

Seeing that the Rookies won't budge, Lobomon and Garmmon fetched the four Rookies and took off quickly.

"Antylamon! Thank you!" Cries of the four Rookies were heard echoing throughout the jungle. And for the first time ever, Antylamon smiled.

SkullGreymon was angered to see its opponents go. It wanted to chase them, but Antylamon was blocking it from moving. SkullGreymon attempted to blast Antylamon away with its cannon, but to its surprise Antylamon leaped up and hacked away the holster that held the organic cannon on SkullGreymon's body. The cannon fell onto the ground and exploded, destroying SkullGreymon's lower half of the body…and Antylamon's legs as well.

"DigiDestined…this is a gift, for saving our lives yesterday," Antylamon whispered sadly.

Then, with all her might she hacked SkullGreymon's head off its body before death claimed both her and SkullGreymon.

* * *

"Damn it! Even SkullGreymon is not enough to stop those DigiDestined, no thanks to that nosy rabbits!"

The satyr stared into the orbs furiously.

"I have set those Gargoylemon and SkullGreymon as a trap to kill the DigiDestined _before_ they reach Castle Eos! Why in the world that all the lives they managed to claim were of those meddlesome herbivores! A powerful Ultimate Digimon…gone, wasted! Hmm…so it is true, after all. The DigiDestined are indeed a force to be reckoned with…but NOT by the fact that they are powerful themselves. No, no…it is quite obvious now…they have been using their allies to win their battles."

The orb showed the battle between Phelesmon and Omnimon, followed by the scene where MegaSeadramon trapped Dragomon inside the Dark Whirlpool.

"I understand perfectly now. Eliminate their allies…and they shall go down as well!"

The orb suddenly changed scenery and the rugged face of X-WereGarurumon appeared. The sudden interruption surprised the satyr.

"What!" he growled.

From the other side of the orb, X-WereGarurumon flinched upon the harsh tone of his master, but decided to report in anyway.

"Lord Mephistomon, the promised assistance from Lord Astamon has arrived. Fortunately, he is Mummymon, a friend of mine. We shall work together perfectly to ensure the downfall of the DigiDestined, the vanguard of light and the Order of the Light, as the great Dark One has commanded. As of now, I'll be training my followers to be prepared for the full-scale assault to Castle Eos. We'll be awaiting your signal to begin the attack."

Mephistomon thought about it and made an alteration to the werewolf's plan.

"I know now for a fact that it would be better for you to attack the headquarters of the Order of the Light first. Eliminate the potential allies to the DigiDestined first. Besides, Castle Eos's light is too powerful for the Wolfsbane Clan to handle, is it not? You shall strike at midnight, on the last day the full moon blooms."

* * *

The sound of data combustion made everyone stopped dead on their track. The DigiDestined, not knowing what had happened to the Digimon, expected the worst. They had reached at the end of the track, and had emerged outside of the jungle. They were now facing a lush meadow, which spread out wide across the horizon. There were no more trees that obstructed the sunlight. They could see the evening sky clearly, which was blue and purple with red streaks towards the horizon. The sun was behind the many hills visible, setting down to give way for the night to grace the Digital World with its moonlight once again.

Everyone however had no time to appreciate the radiance of the sunset. The safety of their Digimon friends was at stake. SkullGreymon was very powerful; there was no telling whether Cyberdramon, Ardhamon, Lobomon and Garmmon could match the monster's terrifying strength.

But, before anyone could pop out the dreaded question, Lobomon and Garmmon leaped out from the shadows of the jungles. Each of them carried two Rookies with them; Garmmon had Bearmon and Kotemon riding on his back while Lobomon carried DemiDevimon and ToyAgumon under his arms.

"You're alright! Thank goodness!" Max exclaimed, relieved. "We were getting so worried about you after hearing that…data explosion sound."

"Did you guys actually beat SkullGreymon?" Darien asked.

"No," Bearmon answered glumly, as he jumped down from Garmmon's back. "It wasn't us."

"It was Antylamon," Kotemon said sadly. "She appeared out of nowhere, just in time when we all de-Digivolved. She told us to run; she'd hold out SkullGreymon for us to escape."

Minutes went by in silence as everyone was expecting to see either Antylamon or SkullGreymon to walk out from the jungle, not knowing that both had perished under the hands of each other. After seeing that nobody would be coming out, everyone decided that Antylamon had also perished during this journey to Castle Eos, and grieved for their three bunny friends whom they had just met yesterday. Kira and Jon found three big stones and erected a small memorial, in remembrance to Turuiemon, Lopmon and Terriermon. They plucked out some flowers carefully, with their roots intact, and planted them around the memorial. The two of them then knelt in front of the memorial.

"We'll never forget you three," Kira said tearfully. Then she added softly, "I'm sorry."

"We'll miss you three," Jon said.

After a brief hesitation, Gennai walked forward and pressed Jon and Kira's shoulders softly. "I'm sure they will not blame you, or anyone, what had happened." He helped the two DigiDestined up and turned them slowly to face a direction. Then he gestured for the others to do the same thing.

"Look up ahead," Lobomon said with a soft smile.

Everyone followed Gennai's gesture and saw a very tall mountain, barely visible amidst the darkening sky. Its peak reached up towards the stratosphere and was not visible from where they were standing. The setting sun gave the tall, rocky mountain a beautiful shine of blue, violet, gray and red. The mountain was miles away still, but from where they were, it looked close enough to instill some hope for them to continue journeying.

Darien whistled. "Beautiful. Is that…"

"Yep, that's Skydancer Mountain. And Eos is built at the topmost peak of the mountain," Gennai confirmed.

Kanto looked at the mountain with a frown. "How are we gonna get up there?"

Gennai smiled. "Don't worry about it, Kanto. We'll let the lady's holy crow, Yatagaramon, do the transporting from hereon."

* * *

…..

…..

**Author's Note:**

Thanks for the reviews. I've just noticed this…there are three reviewers whose names start out with 'dark': **Dark** Qiviut, **dark**672 and **Dark**FictionWizard. This pretty much reflects the darker theme Legends is going now.

Edit: Thanks to Wolfdramon for pointing out a glaring mistake. It has been edited.

**_Dark Qiviut, dark672, Wolfdramon – _**Thanks.

**_Yami Vizzini – _**Gennai as a boy is an idea I have been toying for a long time. I think since that we've seen him as a young man and an old geezer, why not now show him as a boy? And I have fun in plotting out his character, his origin and what he'll become in the future of this story.

**_Bluesv20 – _**Evolutions to Mega will not be happening for quite a while, but I guess by now it is safe to say that I will definitely use the true evolution line in Renamon's case. As for the others…you shall have to wait and see. However I suppose _Vengeance_ does contain some hints of what they will become.

**_DarkFictionWizard_** - Lykamon does exist, though I'm not so sure whether it's in the manga or in the cards. I saw the entry in Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia and saw the image of Lykamon on a website. The image was in black and white, so in the previous chapter I have to come up with their colors on my own. So, I guess maybe I can claim half-ownership for Lykamon. I've never seen any other story that uses Lykamon yet.

**_Roby Murphy– _**Any other DigiDestined? Well, to say it now will spoil the story.


	32. Something Digital This Way Comes

**Previously on Legends of the DigiDestined: **The DigiDestined have arrived at the sacred grounds of the Skydancer Mountain, but at a cost of the lives of their rabbit friends Turuiemon, Lopmon and Terriermon, who have sacrificed their lives protecting the DigiDestined from the Gargoylemon and SkullGreymon.

…..

* * *

Gennai took out a small gleaming white flute from inside his robe and held it just at the tip of his lips. He began playing a soft tone, which sounded neither merry nor melancholic, but the melody was enchanting. At first the song was whispery and soothing, but grew steadily louder with each passing moment. Soon it began to echo all around the sacred grounds of the Skydancer Mountain. Gennai closed his eyes and continued playing, as the others began to feel a comfortable breeze blowing against their face.

"What's he doing?" Kira wondered, looking at Lobomon and Garmmon alternately.

"He is summoning the holy crow," Lobomon answered. "This is the song used to call on Yatagaramon. Otherwise, with the exception of a direct order from the exalted Lady Angella herself, Yatagaramon will not descend from her sanctuary in the clouds. And Yatagaramon has chosen specifically for only Gennai and Lady Angella to have her calling flutes. And look," the tall warrior pointed towards the reddening sky. "Here she comes now."

The DigiDestined and partners looked up and saw, from the clouds, a speck of yellow light emerged from the clouds. As the yellow speck approached them, they could see the features of a giant bird with silvery-grey feathers and wings as wide as half a soccer field. The tail however, was a stark contrast with the grey feathers; it was brilliant gold instead. Her face was masked by a golden helmet which had orifices to feature sparkling emerald eyes. But what made Yatagaramon different greatly than any other bird was not due to her sheer size, but the fact that she had three talons. Two of them were hind feet while the other grew at the front. As the massive three-legged crow descended, she let out an excited screech upon setting sight of Gennai. The screech however did not seem to fit her size; it sounded childlike and innocent as opposed to her intimidating stature.

"Aww….she's so cute!" Kira squealed in delight.

Gennai greeted the bird with a smile and a jolly tone played from his flute. Yatagaramon landed smoothly several meters away from where the DigiDestined were standing, sending a gust of breeze towards the humans and other Digimon as she did. She eyed the crowd with distrust and looked at Gennai for explanation, letting out a small inquiring squawk. Gennai played another tune, as if explaining something to the curious bird and maintained eye contact with her. Yatagaramon listened for the tone and nodded her head slowly. She then turned her gaze towards the DigiDestined and to their surprise, bowed her head at them ever so slightly.

"Well what do you know," Garmmon said gruffly. "The girl likes you lot."

Yatagaramon glared at Garmmon and let out a squawk that sounded like an annoyed retort.

"She doesn't like your attitude," Gennai translated with a grin. Lobomon smiled slightly, apparently amused.

The DigiDestined looked at Gennai with incredulity.

"You understand what the bird…Yatagaramon…is saying?" Jon asked; his eyes widened in admiration.

"Well…not really," Gennai said easily. "It's just that _Yata_ never really liked Garmmon from the moment she first met him." He held up his ivory flute. "This flute here is the only way I can communicate with her. I'll play her a song while thinking of something to say to her. She listens to the song and somehow, she'll get what I'm trying to say to her. If I just talk to her straight out like I'm doing with you guys…" he gestured towards Yatagaramon, who had a bewildered expression on her face, her head tilted slightly towards her left. "…she won't understand anything."

"Wow," Darien said. "Talk about weird."

"What did you _say_ to her just now?" Max asked curiously. "The song you played to her…what was it about?"

"Oh, I just told her that we'll need her favor to go up the Skydancer Mountain. Of course, we can go to the mountain but from here it would take us all night. And we can climb it but it would take us another couple of days to reach Eos. I told her that we don't have that much time. By flying on her it would only take us several minutes. She's really a fast flyer."

"Castle Eos is that far, huh? And what did she say?" Kanto asked.

"She said that she's ok with it as long as nobody tried to pluck out her silvery feather."

The DigiDestined and Digimon sweatdropped upon hearing the unusual requirement.

"It's nothing to be taken upon lightly. Do just that and Yata will hate you forever. Just look at the example," Gennai said with a mock-frown and pointed towards Garmmon.

"It was an accident!" Garmmon growled. "One of her stupid feathers was caught in between my claws as I tried to get down from her."

"Yata didn't seem to think so," Gennai pointed out. "She told me that it was painful."

"Yeah? Well…what does she know anyway? She is an Ultimate with the brain of a baby Digimon. Even In-trainings can speak perfectly, and what does Yatagaramon know? Squawk here and squawk there. And don't you go playing the flute to her to translate what I have just said," Garmmon growled, fixing Gennai with a serious glare when the boy was going to put the flute in front of his mouth. Gennai hastily took it away from his mouth.

"Shall we get going?" Renamon asked impatiently. She was afraid that their arguments would stall them from meeting the Vanguard of Light.

"Of course," Gennai said. He made a gesture for Yatagaramon to lower her body. The bird obeyed and one by one they climbed on Yatagaramon.

"Won't you two be following us?" Kira asked when Lobomon and Garmmon did not join them.

Lobomon shook his head, smiling. "No child, we are stationed to guard the grounds from any intruder. However, we shall be seeing you again soon."

"All aboard?" Gennai asked as he climbed up and rode on Yatagaramon's head. He looked behind and saw that all DigiDestined and Digimon were safely settled on Yatagaramon's sturdy body. "Remember my warning, alright? And here we go!"

Gennai then played an upbeat tune from his flute. Yatagaramon responded by spreading out her wings. Her feathers shone with yellow light, which surrounded her body to provide protection for herself and her occupants. With one flap of her wings she was hoisted several meters up before she gained momentum and began to reach for the sky.

Lobomon and Garmmon observed as the giant crow soared towards the sky and disappeared in the clouds. Then, Lobomon looked down at his quadrupled companion and smiled.

"Should I just tell the DigiDestined that we remain behind simply because Yatagaramon refuses to carry you ever again since that incident?"

"Oh shut up!"

* * *

_**LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED**_

_**Chapter 32 – Something Digital This Way Comes **_

…..

…..

The view of the sky was breathtaking. The sun was setting over the distant horizon behind the mountains located even further than Skydancer Mountain, its light partially hidden by the clouds. The sky gave off an interesting mix of several different shades of red and blue. Only several minutes had passed, yet from their altitude the sacred grounds below were no longer visible, hidden by the white-grey clouds. Yatagaramon glided upwards with apparent ease, her light protecting the DigiDestined from falling. It was as if they were transfixed on her body, which made falling close to impossible as gravity no longer had much effect on them.

"Any seconds now, look up ahead," Gennai said brightly. They were now within the clouds.

True enough, when Yatagaramon had surpassed the highest clouds of all, the DigiDestined saw that they were close to the cosmos, or so it seemed. Below the giant crow was complete whiteness that off the clouds, covering the world below completely. Above was the sky, deep blue with sparkling stars and constellations spread out in good measures. The Skydancer Mountain's tip pierced through the clouds not far ahead, and what the DigiDestined saw next was too amazing to be described by words.

"Wow!" Darien exclaimed loudly.

Perched on top of Skydancer Mountain was a breathtaking pearl-white bastion. The castle was not big, but was artfully designed to resemble a six-winged falcon which had the wings all spread out pointing towards the sky, enveloping a single tower constructed with intricate details of a falcon's body and head. From afar, it was as if the castle was a giant falcon perched above the violet mountain; the base of the castle greatly resembled golden talons clutching the peak of the mountain. Two windows were located at what supposed to be the eyes, glowing with soft green light, and below the eyes was an opened golden beak. On top of the tower, the roof was pure gold and constructed to look like a four-tip crown, with a dazzling pink oval jewel encrusted in the middle of it. And to complete the vision of perfection, the castle seemed to be glimmering with light washed from the multihued aurora borealis right above the castle.

"I've never seen any building as beautiful as this," Kira said, perfectly awed. "Is that Castle Eos?"

"Yup, the sanctuary of the Vanguard of Light, Lady Angella," Gennai answered with pride. "I spent half my life here as well, training as her apprentice."

"It's absolutely magnificent," Jon said, taking out his glasses and rubbed his eyes, as if making sure that he was not dreaming. "No building on Earth can match this one. There seems to be no flaw at all…except that I don't see any door for us to enter."

Gennai grinned. "That's why it's important that we ride on Yata to reach Eos. You see, we enter the castle from that golden beak entrance."

Yatagaramon made it towards the golden beak entrance, which was built just about the size of the crow itself. Inside of it, the foyer of the castle seemed plain, with white and pinkish-red marble walls, floor and ceiling. Torches were hung every meter away, giving light to the dome-shaped entrance. Everyone then got down from the giant bird, and Gennai tapped Yatagaramon's front talon affectionately before the bird flew out from the castle.

"This way, follow me. We're going to the throne room to meet the lady. But…" Gennai turned to face the DigiDestined with a serious expression on her face. "…while I and the wolf brothers have stated that the Vanguard of Light is also known as Lady Angella, but you should address her as the Vanguard instead of her name. Only if she has expressed permission for you to use her name, then you shall address her as such."

"Is it that important?" Darien said. "Or is it a kind of formality?"

Gennai thought about the question for a while before answering, "With her astounding powers and position, it's simply not appropriate to address her informally."

"Why did you, Lobomon and Garmmon get to call her Lady Angella while we have to call her as the Vanguard?" Kanto asked.

"Strangers usually address her in her formal call," Gennai replied. "Lobomon, Garmmon and I have been her disciples for so long that we're no longer strangers in her eyes. She's like our teacher now, so we get to call her in her own name with a less-formal title. It's no longer considered inappropriate for us to do so. Other than the three of us, only the leader of the Order of the Light receives the same privilege. I'm not so sure of the reason though."

The DigiDestined glanced at each other and reached an unspoken agreement of the matter. "We don't see any reason for us to not follow the rules around here," Max said.

"Don't think about it too much," Gennai said with a smile. "Spend some time in this castle and you'll get the same privilege yourself."

They walked in complete silence, admiring the interior of the castle even more. The pink shades on the ceilings, walls and floors gradually changed to shades of green and blue, nicely blended together with white. The walkway seemed to widen a little as well as they reached a closed white door, with golden knobs shaped like wings. Gennai pushed the knob down and the door opened with ease, letting out a faint distinct sound that of a flowing river and waterfall. The young warrior walked in confidently, and gestured for the DigiDestined and partners to follow him inside. They were then greeted with a remarkable sight.

"We're now in the throne room. Nice, isn't it?" Gennai smiled.

Nice was definitely an understatement. The throne room was a dome shape structure, with the transparent ceiling, shaped like an interior of a four-tip crown, letting in the lights that came from the aurora above the castle. The air inside the throne room was fresh, and the faint sound they heard upon entering the room was from the manmade waterfalls that lined part of the walls of the throne room. The DigiDestined looked down to find out that they were standing on a walkway large enough to fit the ten of them, humans and partners, standing in one straight line, side by side. On both sides of the walkway and underneath it, was a pool of water. On each side of the pool were five statues of Digimon unknown to them, constructed on small rocky platforms. Straight ahead the walkway was a fleet of stairs, green in color, which led to an extravagant-looking throne.

The throne was constructed similar to Castle Eos itself, that of a six-winged falcon. The base of the throne seemed glued to the platform by two gleaming golden talons. The six wings formed the main parts of the throne such as the seat, back and armrests. The head and golden beak of the falcon was expertly designed as the roof of the throne, with white feathers billowing down the back and both sides to form curtains which left only the anterior side of the throne exposed.

Sitting on the throne was a woman in white. She was a peerless beauty, with long blond hair curtained her oval face and cascaded down her shoulders and back. She was dressed in a simple, leathery white skin-suit which was wrapped around her neck, arms and body, while exposing her thighs. She wore white feathery high-heeled boots which reached just below her knees. Attached on her shoulders was a feathery cloak, which seemed to be joined at the seams of her long sleeves as well. Her cool cerulean eyes were observing her guests.

"Welcome to Castle Eos, chosen children. I am the Vanguard of Light and protector of Castle Eos," she said with a delicate, yet authoritative voice which echoed slightly, giving her a rather mystic appeal. She rose from her throne and walked down the staircases elegantly, her pink lips began to form a smile. "I am glad that you have made it here safely."

The DigiDestined were all rendered breathless by the beauty that was now standing in front of them. She looked young, like a woman in her early twenties, yet the shine in her sapphire eyes reflected wisdom beyond her years. The DigiDestined finally understood why Gennai seemed to respect her greatly. This was someone who looked like she wielded great powers in her hands.

Gennai bowed slightly in reverence to the Vanguard of Light, but did not say anything.

The Vanguard turned to the young warrior and gave a nod. "You did well, Gennai. However, I did see some unfavorable events happening in the jungle while on your way here."

"It was something we didn't expect to happen," Gennai replied slowly.

"Indeed they were not. Those Gargoylemon and the SkullGreymon were there on Mephistomon's order," the Vanguard said calmly.

Gennai reeled slightly. "Mephistomon?" he said in shock.

"Yes, and it seems that he is getting bolder now that the full moon has arrived. His top servants, the dark wolves of the Wolfsbane Clan, are currently at their full power," the Vanguard said, still with her unruffled voice. If she was disturbed by the fact, there was no evident in her tranquil face. "There is, however, nothing to worry about, at least for the time being. They can not invade the sacred grounds of Skydancer Mountain. Mephistomon is a being of darkness; he hates the light which protects Castle Eos and the sacred grounds. We shall be safe. But for now…"

She turned to observe the DigiDestined. She eyed Max, who looked like he was about to ask something. The lady however held her hand up slightly.

"DigiDestined, you need not introduce yourself, as you are known well throughout the Digital World. However I trust that you are already weary from a day's worth of journey. I know that you may have some questions, but they will be better heard in the morning. For now, I believe what all of you need is a good night rest."

Max was shocked; what the Vanguard had just said mirrored exactly what was in his mind. Then, he nodded slightly. "What kind of trouble are we going to face?" he asked briskly.

The Vanguard smiled composedly for the first time. "Trouble is brewing and we shall soon need your help, but I wish not to trouble you with it until morning. For now, you need to rest."

She turned her gaze to Darien, Kira and Kanto, and continued, "Five chambers have been prepared for you to sleep in, one for each pair of DigiDestined and Digimon. You may proceed to the kitchen after cleaning up if you wish; light suppers have been prepared for all of you there. I'm afraid however, that I will not join you for supper as there are matters that needed attending to. Gennai however will act as your guide while in my castle."

And finally, looking at the smallest DigiDestined, Jon, she observed him longer, noting his blue eyes and blond hair. Perhaps realizing the resemblances, though the Vanguard's hair was fairer and silvery as compared to Jon's normal blond hair, the Vanguard smiled, ever so calmly, towards the boy. "I give all of you permission to explore the castle, but I'd rather that you do that in the morning." Jon blushed; the Vanguard had easily read his thoughts.

"Err….are you a telepath?" he blurted.

The Vanguard of Light looked faintly amused, reflected by the mirth in her alluring eyes. Otherwise, her face remained poised as ever. "Well…to a certain extent, yes, but it's an ability which I prefer not to use unless it is really necessary. What I have said was merely something I thought that you were thinking, based on what you all have endured this day. A day of adventures, I presume, can be rather taxing for five humans. And now, do excuse me, but I have something that requires my attention. We will be seeing each other in the morning, and by then I shall be glad to answer any inquiry that you might have."

Gennai understood the tone in the Vanguard's voice as a sign of dismissal. "Guys, come on. I'll show you around."

* * *

The Koromon Village was a small rural community in Server, populated mainly by the In-trainings themselves, who had long learned to be independent even before reaching Rookie levels. Upon earning enough experience and skills from the Elecmon of the nearest Primary Village, the Koromon species would leave the village of the beginnings and come to stay among their own. Some of their higher Digivolutionary forms remained in the village to safeguard the village from any intruder. The village itself was led by a Betamon, an evolved form of a Koromon. Not far from the village, an Agumon was said to be living in hiding, attacking anybody who dared intrude the peaceful village.

However, even with such protection, it did not inhibit the bloodthirsty wolves of the Wolfsbane Clan the slightest to intrude the village. In fact, with only Rookies as the village's protectors, the wolves were eager than ever to acquire some easy, free data. And coupled with the fact that the Koromon Village was, unfortunately, rather un-strategically located, being only within ten miles radius from the Macabre Glade, the village was so easy a target, one could wonder how did the village even manage to survive.

It was night, and the second day of the full moon. With their orders to attack the headquarters of the Order of the Light only during the last day of the full moon, where they would be at their strongest, the wolves were growing pretty restless. X-WereGarurumon allowed them to satiate their thirst for data, and thus three BlackGarurumon and one Sangloupmon made their way to Koromon Village, with hope to acquire the brave little ones' data to add on their own. Confident that they would easily overtake the whole population of Koromon without any obstacle, it was to their surprise when a Digimon stepped out from the forest that surrounded the village.

"Don't come any closer, vandals!" the lizard-like creature exclaimed loudly. Amidst the night, the burning flames erupting from its whole body gave out light to the nearby surrounding. "You mangy wolves shan't proceed, not before facing FlareLizamon!"

Recognizing FlareLizamon as a Champion, the wolves snorted in annoyance. They did not expect this, but no matter, FlareLizamon was alone and there were four of them. The wolves merely replied to FlareLizamon with ferocious snarls; they had not the ability to speak. The single Sangloupmon snapped loudly towards FlareLizamon and leaped forward, eyes glinting crimson with madness.

"I warned you," FlareLizamon shouted, and thrust his arms forward. _"Flame Hit!"_

The burning lizard released two fireballs from his hands and scored a direct hit when both fireballs blasted onto the Sangloupmon. The sleek purple furs of the Sangloupmon were scorched to black, and there was a stench that came thereafter. Sangloupmon crashed onto the ground just a meter away from the FlareLizamon, sprawled with its legs on opposite directions.

FlareLizamon's eyes turned cold as he stared at the limped Sangloupmon. "You're from that mad clan of dark wolves of Mephistomon's…" he said with a forbidding tone. Pointing his arm towards the fallen wolf, he continued, "One less evil mutt to worry about from now on. _Flare Tower!"_

A wall of fire suddenly erupted from underneath Sangloupmon, engulfing it with red hot flames. The Sangloupmon did not even manage to protect itself as FlareLizamon was too quick with his attack, and with a loud whimper the Sangloupmon burst into data. The flames disappeared as quickly as it had appeared after the Sangloupmon's anguished whimper dissipated from the otherwise quiet night. FlareLizamon waved the data away grimly and stepped up to the blackened ground,

"Now, did I make myself plain?" he asked towards the BlackGarurumon, glowering at them with hatred in his eyes.

The BlackGarurumon snapped at him wildly, angered of the loss of their comrade. They leaped towards FlareLizamon simultaneously, driven by the wild thirst for vengeance and of strong data that FlareLizamon seemed to possess.

"Three against one, eh?" FlareLizamon said indifferently. "I'll show you what I'm made of! _Flare Hit!"_

FlareLizamon released his fireballs towards the BlackGarurumon that was coming from his front straight towards the eye. The BlackGarurumon was slowed down, but it managed to counter FlareLizamon's attack with its own icy attack. FlareLizamon leapt up the BlackGarurumon's head and stomped onto its eyes, causing it to let out a howl in pain. With amazing agility, FlareLizamon turned to face the other two BlackGarurumon and released more fireballs repeatedly, while dodging the wolves' attacks on him. He looked to be a seasoned fighter, aptly defending himself against foes two times his number.

As FlareLizamon was kept preoccupied by the two BlackGarurumon, the one he had defeated earlier began to stir back into consciousness unnoticed. It opened its bloodshot eyes and rose back to its feet quietly. Approaching the unaware FlareLizamon from behind, the BlackGarurumon was about to attack when suddenly it was jolted with electricity blast coming from the corner of the forest. Letting out a loud bark and a defeated whimper, the BlackGarurumon fell again with a sound thud onto the ground, alerting FlareLizamon immediately.

Turning around, he was at first confused upon what had just happened, but his eyes dawned in comprehension as he set eyes on a familiar green creature. "Betamon?"

"Darn right you are," the Betamon grunted; its voice sounded like an exasperated female. "I've heard noises."

"What are you doing here? You should be at the village, protecting the Koromon!" FlareLizamon said heatedly. "Go back!"

"And let _you_ have all the fun? No way!" Betamon said, glaring at FlareLizamon. She stepped forward. "I've just helped you from that BlackGarurumon, the least you can do is say thanks, instead of turning _me_ away! If it weren't for me, that mutt would've your head!"

"Listen," FlareLizamon said, sounding exasperated himself. "I've got everything under control here. I've deleted one of them, and move aside… _Flare Tower!"_ The BlackGarurumon who was stunned by Betamon immediately exploded in data particles as soon as FlareLizamon's fire engulfed it. "That's two down."

"Show off," Betamon muttered uninterestedly. She then eyed the remaining two remaining BlackGarurumon, who upon her intrusion, backed away slightly. She doubted that it was because of her appearing…they looked like they were taking advantage of the distraction. Suddenly something occurred to her, and she looked at FlareLizamon with fearful eyes. "FlareLizamon…while you're at it, finish the remaining two quickly! The full moon's approaching!"

FlareLizamon looked stunned for a moment, before letting out a loud curse. "I've forgotten about that!" He turned, only to see the two BlackGarurumon retreating towards the open field. Looking up, he saw the moon was almost full…the clouds bordering the lower half of the moon began to part. FlareLizamon released streams of fireballs towards the BlackGarurumon, who was merely twenty meters away from him. The BlackGarurumon duo evaded the fireballs until they reached the opening they desired…and just about the same time, the full moon appeared, pale yellow and benevolent, yet the effect of it was the opposite.

"Oh, great!" FlareLizamon muttered as the BlackGarurumon froze in place.

The transformation then took place. With the power of the full moon, both BlackGarurumon advanced into their more ferocious forms – becoming the Shadow WereGarurumon! The two werewolves then stared hard towards FlareLizamon, their eyes glimmering with crimson light. Claws raised, both of them advanced towards FlareLizamon with renewed vigor.

The burning lizard panicked. "Damn it! _Flare Wall!"_

FlareLizamon immediately raised his wall of fire to block the Shadow WereGarurumon. The dark werewolves however slashed the flame walls with their claws, effectively nullified the attack which formerly had consumed the lives of their two comrades. They ran with top speed towards FlareLizamon and leapt towards him with loud snarls. Both lashed out towards the burning lizard, who had quickly summoned all his energy to release two of his strongest fireballs to repel the enemies' attack. This time around, the Flame Hit attack failed to serve him, as the Shadow WereGarurumon effortlessly kicked away the fireballs while making their ways towards him. Courageous to the end, FlareLizamon refused to give up and erected yet another wall of fire just inches away from his snout.

Yet, his attempt was proved fruitless when two set of claws emerged from the flaming wall, and struck through FlareLizamon's chest and neck. FlareLizamon's head flew towards the sky before exploding into data particles, followed by the rest of his body. The flame wall diminished and the Shadow WereGarurumon both claimed FlareLizamon's data as their own.

"NOOOOO!" a loud wail was heard from the forest. Betamon appeared, her eyes reflecting her pain over the loss of FlareLizamon.

The Shadow WereGarurumon stared at her disinterestedly, before scoffing and turning to move towards the Koromon Village.

"NO! You're going the wrong direction! Fight me! I dare you!" Betamon cried out, but it went unnoticed as the Shadow WereGarurumon had bigger things in mind.

Yet, several blasts from the sky stopped them from entering the forest. Angered, the werewolves looked up and saw what seemed to be like two white falcons approaching them with incredible speed. However, those birds were accompanied by the burring sounds of machines, which was not normal for usual falcons. From the eyes of the falcons, white energy beams were fired, impossible for normal falcons to perform. Yet, these were neither ordinary birds, nor Digimon…upon closer inspection; they were actually flying machines, looking like a cross between a falcon and a motorbike. And riding the falcon-bikes were humans, garbed in black skin-suits with beige outer attires.

The flying machines glided down and several small missile-like projectiles came out from the widespread wings, and were shot towards the Shadow WereGarurumon. A blinding explosion of light ensued as the missiles hit their target and the werewolves shrieked in pain, despite the attack were merely based on light. The flying falcon-bikes then hovered above the werewolves.

"Fire the lasers!" a woman, riding one of the flying machine, instructed. "We have to force them to de-Digivolve!"

"Right!" a man replied soundly.

The two newcomers assaulted the Shadow WereGarurumon relentlessly before ending their attack with the missiles. Another explosion of light ensued, and after the light dissipated the Shadow WereGarurumon were no more; in their place there were two weakened BlackGarurumon. They were too weak they could not even stand, but if they were intimidated by the newcomers, their expressions did not show it. Instead, they barked angrily towards the two men, who had landed their flying machines just several meters away from the fallen wolves.

"Shibumi and Yamaki really have done it this time with these slick Sky Gliders," the man exclaimed as he un-boarded the machine called the Sky Glider. He was a strapping young African-American male with dark eyes. This man's beige outer garb had brown linings. "Aren't they cool or what, Daisy?"

His comrade, Daisy, a young woman with stylish short blond hair, joined him. She wore the same outfit as her male companion, but her outer garb had a sky blue lining. "Right, Babel. They're indeed a great asset to defend ourselves against Mephistomon's forces of darkness."

"What do you suppose we do with those two BlackGarurumon?" Babel asked.

"The Vanguard has said that they are a threat. They are about to perform a massacre at the Koromon Village. We have to delete them," Daisy said grimly. Upon seeing Babel's darkened expression, Daisy sighed. "I know you hate doing this, but it's for the good of all. If you're not going to do it, I will. They've been weakened considerably due to the light released by the Sky Gliders anyway…"

She took out a futuristic-looking white gun and took aim towards the BlackGarurumon and pressed the trigger. Several white and blue energy beams were fired from the tip of the gun, hitting the BlackGarurumon with sparks of energy resulted upon contact. The BlackGarurumon yelped in pain and rose on their feet, snarling in fury. Daisy however was not remotely abashed; her face determined as she did not cease fire. She took aim on one BlackGarurumon's knee and fired towards it, causing the victim wolf to trample onto the ground, immobilized.

Daisy looked at Babel imploringly. "These guns were set only to stun. It'll take both of us to fire until they're both deleted. You have to help me!"

Babel nodded and took out his own white gun with a trembling hand. He aimed towards the other BlackGarurumon and began to fire with white and green energy beams. The BlackGarurumon snarled and attempted to release an attack from its maw, but Daisy used this opportunity to place a well-aimed shot straight towards the insides of the wide-opened maw. The BlackGarurumon was sent cart-wheeling backwards before crashing onto a nearby tree.

"Remind me to ask Yamaki to upgrade the Photon Stunners when we get back to base," Daisy snarled angrily. "These guns have the power of In-training Digimon!"

"Let me do it," a grim feminine voice said from their back. Daisy and Babel turned, and saw Betamon with an agonized expression on her face. "They killed FlareLizamon; I'll have to delete them now. It's our responsibility…it's now my responsibility alone; I am the protector of the Koromon Village!"

The two humans nodded and let the amphibian Digimon walk past them. Betamon then glimmered with dark green light and transformed into a bigger, blue-scaled dragon with red tattered wings and an ivory mask on her face. She glided towards the two fallen BlackGarurumon, who cowered upon the sight of a fearsome dragon in their presence. Her eyes reflected her fury, evident in her voice as she solemnly summoned,

"_Spinning Needle!"_

The two dark wolves were instantly extinguished from existence with one single attack from Airdramon, the Champion form of Betamon. Without a word, she then flew away from the field, leaving Daisy and Babel in wonder.

"Let's get back to the HQ," Daisy finally said. "The Koromon Village is safe now, with her around."

* * *

Morning soon came and all the DigiDestined rose up early, well-rested after a good night sleep. They all had retired early, upon Gennai's insistence. Prior to sleep they had been treated with a brief tour of the castle, restricted to the floor where their chambers were located. They were also given a hearty meal, which were all delicious. To add up to their delight, there was a massive bathroom at the end of the floor, enabling the DigiDestined to clean themselves up. Before sleeping, the DigiDestined changed into the given robes inside their chambers, and to their surprise their clothes were all washed, dried and ironed by the time they had awakened.

Right now, after breakfast, all of them were heading towards the main hall, where the Vanguard of Light was already waiting for them. She was sitting on her magnificent throne demurely, her eyes watching the DigiDestined with calm interest.

"Greetings, DigiDestined," she said decorously. "I trust you are all well-rested, and well-fed, now?"

Max stepped forward, feeling that as leader of the DigiDestined, he would be the voice for all of the DigiDestined. Gennai had instructed them the previous night to observe proprieties while in the Vanguard's audience.

"Yes, Vanguard," he replied politely. "We thank you for your hospitality."

The Vanguard smiled and nodded. "It's my pleasure, Matsuo Miyazaki. You have done well so far, in your quest against the Legion of Darkness. Both Phelesmon and Dragomon have been defeated in merely a month; quite a glorious achievement that neither of us could ever achieve."

"We've had helps," Max said modestly, blushing slightly over the use of his full name. "We didn't do it all by ourselves…"

"Indeed, but without the five of you, the Digimon could have never found hope during this bleakest period of time," the Vanguard replied calmly. She observed each and every DigiDestined, and nodded slightly. "I have given my word that this morning will be the morning where all of your questions are answered, if possible. Now, I trust that over the course of this whole month, you must by now, have numerous questions. Do not be afraid to ask."

"Why are _we_ chosen, instead of other people?" Darien quickly asked before Max could open his mouth, He noticed the redhead's glare, however. "What? I've been dying to know _that_. Don't tell me you're not curious of it?"

Gennai scowled upon Darien's directness, but the Vanguard merely nodded calmly. "I have thought that would be the first thing to be asked." She pondered upon Darien's inquiry for a moment before answering, "Unfortunately, nobody knows the real answer to that question. The five Digivices are created randomly by the Harmonious Ones to be acquired by five chosen children to become DigiDestined.

"It was prophesized by one of the Ancients that there will be time when the Digital World is invaded by villains so powerful, that five humans from the mythical Human World would be chosen to be paired with Digimon – to become the heroes of our world, known as the DigiDestined. The DigiDestined are a symbol of hope for the Digimon, who have suffered under the wrath of the Legion of Darkness."

"The Ancients?" Jon wondered. "Who are they?"

"Look around you," the Vanguard instructed, beckoning for them towards the lake around them. Ten marble statues, each carved differently, were erected around the main hall. "These statues are of the Ancient Ten. They were the first Digimon created, the forerunners to the five Harmonious Ones now. They have long gone, centuries ago in fact, and their powers now lie within the five Harmonious Ones."

"Woah…" Jon said, amazed. Then he remembered that he had interrupted the Vanguard's story concerning the Legion of Darkness. "Uh…you were saying about the Legions?"

The beautiful wielder of light nodded. "Ten years it's been since the Legion of Darkness invaded our world, but prior to their comings, the Digital World has begun to be tainted by a powerful force of darkness, created from the negative energy emitted by sorrowful Digimon who cannot attain the power of Digivolution and from the Digimon who have fallen in battles. Over the years, the negative energy accumulated silently in the depths of space of the Digital World, sealed from the land, water and air of the Digital World by means of a cosmic Wall of Fire until finally, a being known as Apocalymon emerged."

The Vanguard of Light then waved her hand gently towards the fountains. The surface of the water glittered with white light before showing an endless universe, showing the confrontation between a knight in shining armor and a massive creature, with octagonal body and chains jutting out from various parts of his body. Above the polygonal body was a figure of a dark-clothed man, joined to the massive polygon by means of tentacles.

"Hey, that's Omnimon!" ToyAgumon said, pointing towards the knight.

"After learning of Apocalymon's emergence in the depths of space, the Harmonious Ones immediately sent their disciples – WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, as Omnimon, through the Wall of Fire to prevent Apocalymon from entering the Digital World. Omnimon possessed immense power, but apparently it was not enough to stop Apocalymon, who out of sorrow and hate that had accumulated within him, wanted the entire Digital World to feel his pain as well. However, Omnimon was able to force Apocalymon to retreat, despite injuring himself in the process. Seeing that he could not conquer the Digital World, Apocalymon extracted some data within him and made ten copies of his digital DNA copies, or spirits as you may say in your term, to be sent to the Digital World to merge with Digimon who had already infected by his darkness beforehand. The digital spirits escaped to the Digital World via the Wall of Fire, and Omnimon went to chase after it after escaping Apocalymon's devastating attack, but was too severely injured to pursue them after escaping the space world.

"The digital spirits of Apocalymon, within a short period of time, found their ideal hosts and that marked the beginning of a dark era in our world. In accordance to how quick the digital spirit found their hosts, the first Digimon who was inhabited by the spirit would ideally be the most powerful one of all ten. However this Digimon's identity remained a mystery even to the other Legion of Darkness…he is known to both the forces of evil and good as the Dark One."

A semi-translucent image of a being cloaked in rich blue garment appeared above the fountain. The Dark One, as the image was identified, had black demonic wings erupting from his back, and no trace of his face could be made out from the shadows of his hood. Even though it was a hologram, the DigiDestined could feel a sinister aura emanating from merely an image of the Dark One that they could not explain. It made them shudder.

"The Dark One is a dangerous foe, said to be so powerful that the other nine Legions never question his order. However, influential as he is, he never strikes openly, preferring to keep his identity clandestine. He would instruct his underlings to perform the daunting task of conquering the Digital World instead. However, with his plans, the Legion of Darkness has been steadily infiltrating the stronghold of the forces of good over the past ten years. He is also the one who has first created the epidemic Curse of the Crimson Eyes."

Images of nine demonic Digimon appeared around the image of the Dark One. Seven were humanoid, while two were bestial. The DigiDestined recognized Phelesmon and Dragomon from the group, standing before a massive crimson alligator whose stature and size alone was greater than his other nine comrades. There was a feminine-looking Digimon in purple and black garb; the DigiDestined could not help to notice her due to her alluring dark beauty. On the sides of the feminine Digimon were two demons, one in pinstriped suit wielding a gun, while the other had pallor, blue skin and garbed in green, with armors featuring avian qualities. Standing on the farthest right was a ghastly being – a combination of a ram and a demon – a satyr. On the farthest left was a demon in stately crimson robe, bearing a wizardly appearance. And finally, behind the demonic wizard, a massive creature rivaling the size of the crimson-scaled alligator materialized; an atrocious centaur having a demonic bestial body and a beautiful, yet frightening, humanly qualities.

All the images then disappeared, with the exception of the demonic satyr.

"This is Mephistomon, a Legion assigned to conquer this part of area. He is an Ultimate level Digimon, but with power close to that of a Mega. For the last ten years I have been keeping his darkness at bay with the lights of Castle Eos, but he is growing steadfastly more powerful that I'm afraid, even the purifying lights generated by my castle will not be enough. He is getting even more influential after recruiting the Wolfsbane Clan to become his minions, manipulating the Curse of the Crimson Eyes to a higher degree to power up the wolves of the clan to gain them additional, yet temporary powers. He is, I'm afraid, your next opponent."

"Great," Darien muttered. "This is a whole lot more than I can take."

Max scowled at his friend and looked up towards the Vanguard of Light. "We'll do whatever it takes to stop Mephistomon, then. You can count on us."

The Vanguard smiled at Max and nodded. "I know you will. Do not worry, DigiDestined. The Order of the Light and I will provide assistance in battling these befouled Digimon. You are never on your own."

"Who is the Order of the Light?" Kira asked. "I think I've heard Gennai mentioning about it before."

"That, I believe, is best left to Gennai and the Order members themselves to explain. It is quite a story; you might not be prepared to believe it."

"Why don't you try us?" Kanto asked. Gennai scowled again, but Kanto shrugged it off. "We've seen enough weird things while being here, surely another revelation wouldn't be much of a shocker."

At this, the Vanguard's heavenly blue eyes twinkled. "Alright…maybe I am underestimating you. I'm sorry."

The DigiDestined waited in anticipation as the Vanguard spoke the next few words slowly.

"Other than Gennai, the other nine members of the Order of the Light are all Earthlings… humans from your own home world."

* * *

…..

…..

**Author's Notes:**

I wanted this chapter to be longer, but it seems that I have given all the details I wanted to in merely 7300+ words. The first chapter will be revised as well to maintain continuity with the details I've placed in this chapter. I'll leave you to speculate about the members of the Order of the Light based on the given details in this chapter. Replies to Chapter 31's reviews are posted in my new FF(dot)net forum instead of my journal. And last, but not least, I'd like to wish to all readers a happy Christmas and New Year!


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